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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599420">cielo y tormenta</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/afablefromanothertime/pseuds/afablefromanothertime'>afablefromanothertime</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Neshama [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, Cats, College, Coming of Age, Friends to Lovers, Kidnapping, M/M, Ocean Spirits, Spoilers for Frozen 2, Wind Spirits, earth spirits, flame spirits, frenemies to lovers, like rly its a lot, might be plotholes but eh be nice, spoilers for pride and prejudice (if anyone cares), supernatural stuff, this is really gay, tw for drowning, tw for mention of implied sexual assault, tw for panic attacks, tw for sexual harrassment, why does everyone in my fics love disney as much as i do</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:34:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,476</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599420</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/afablefromanothertime/pseuds/afablefromanothertime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“There is a secret to life that nobody will tell you, because nobody knows. There’s no rules to follow. Nobody knows what the hell they’re doing. So who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong?”</p><p>College is a new world for Jisung. Gone is the sandy beach town by the coast of Busan that he knew. Up in the mountains, there’s a new food chain. And at the top is Lee Minho, but whether he’s an ally or an adversary is unknown. He brings a lot more adventure than Jisung is ready for, but maybe it’s exactly what he needs.</p><p> </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Neshama [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>cielo y tormenta</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>At last, the much-awaited (by like 2 people) sequel to soleil et pluie!</p><p>NOW WITH…<br/>MORE DRAMA!<br/>MORE ACTION!<br/>MORE ROMANCE!<br/>MORE SEXY ALOOF GUYS IN LEATHER JACKETS WHO REALLY LIKE CATS!!</p><p>fyi this is the second in a series, it's not necessary to read the first beforehand because the plots are very different but it would be helpful to understand how everyone knows each other!<br/>this one is a bit different than the first one but i hope you'll enjoy it none the less :-)<br/>have fun!!</p><p> </p><p>thank you to lydia for proof reading through this and catching all my horrific spelling and grammar mistakes, i literally cannot read</p><p> </p><p>tw for drowning, panic attacks, sexual harrassment and implied mentions of sexual assault(very heavily implied not even really mentioned but i figured id tw it just in case)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Intro: The Night He Died</p><p> </p><p>	The wind was howling like a chorus of wolves.</p><p>	So loudly it drowned out the sound of the cabin door creaking open.</p><p>	“Come on!” Chris urged his siblings. “Let’s be quick, before they wake up!”</p><p>	The cabin rested comfortably alongside others by the beach. But at this time of night, with snow this fresh and wild, no one but Chris Bang and his younger brother and sister were adventurous enough to leave their nest.</p><p>	They bundled on their heavy boots and jackets and followed Chris towards the cliffside.</p><p>	“We’ll get a better view from the top,” Chris encouraged them as they stared up at the cliff face before them.</p><p>	“But there’s not even a path,” his sister protested, young face scrunched in worry.</p><p>	“Course there is! It’s just a little snowy, is all.” Chris took his sister’s hand in one of his own and his brother’s hand in the other. “Come on! I’ll lead the way.” </p><p>	The path that led to the top of the cliff was steep, narrow, and winding. It was cut into the side of the cliff— the side that overlooked the ocean.</p><p>	They could have climbed to the top from the land’s side, but it was a longer detour. And Chris wanted to see the ocean, full to the brim and tossing and turning beneath the snowy moon’s light, as soon as possible.</p><p>	Their winter camping trips had been a family tradition, but Chris was determined to make this the most memorable. He lifted his chin and marched them forwards. </p><p>	The path was only wide enough for single file. Chris led the way, sweeping as much snow as he could out of their way and over the side of the path into the frothing sea below.</p><p>	“Stick as close to the cliff face as you can,” Chris warned as they began to climb. The path was three, maybe four feet wide, and after that was a straight drop to the water below.</p><p>	“Why is this a good idea?” His sister moaned in protest.</p><p>	“You’ll see!” The view from the top would be worth it, Chris was sure. So higher they climbed, until the narrow path led them up, up, up, into the frosty air. Until the sea was more sound than sight, a promise of what awaited them if their feet were to slip.</p><p>	Chris stopped short. His brother and sister crashed into him. </p><p>	“What is it?” They chorused in alarm. </p><p>	“A gap,” Chris said, startled. There was a gaping hole in the path, not too far for him to jump, but for the kids, it might be more of a challenge. Five feet, he supposed, five feet to jump onto the sturdy path on the other side. </p><p>	“I’ll go first,” Chris decided. His siblings wailed in alarm. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry! You two will jump after me and I’ll catch you. Promise!”</p><p>	“No, no! Can’t we just go back down and come back tomorrow when it’s light out?” </p><p>	Chris was almost tempted to agree. It’d be difficult to shuffle around and go back down the cliff, but in the daylight they’d have the sun. And their parents to help them along.</p><p>	But there was magic that came with the night that only the moon’s glow could provide. Chris didn’t want to miss the moon’s magic as it sprinkled down onto the sea. A once in a lifetime chance, he mused.</p><p>	“But this is so exciting!” Chris pressed. “Come on, trust your big brother.” He turned and leaped the gap easily. His sister was next, and she clung to him even after he caught her easily.</p><p>	“Come on!” Chris turned to his brother. “Your turn, kiddo.”</p><p>	His brother backed away uncertainly. </p><p>	“Get a running start! You leap, I’ll catch you.” Chris could sense his brother needed a bit more prompting. “Think of how amazing it’ll be once we get to the top! This is the sort of thing that seems scary now, but you’ll keep the memory forever. I promise. We have the chance to have an awesome adventure tonight!”</p><p>	That seemed to do the trick, Chris thought. But he had no idea just how memorable that night was about to get.</p><p>	His brother scrunched up his face in determination. He got a running start, and he took the leap.</p><p>	His short little legs cleared the gap— almost. </p><p>	Chris’s little brother <i> just </i> missed the edge, gravity sucking him into the hole that would plunge him down to the ocean below. Chris lunged forward, grabbing onto the back of his brother’s coat. The small boy kicked and flailed in his grip, struggling for purchase. For a moment, they teetered in place. Then their sister grabbed Chan and pulled him with all her strength, and the three of them made it onto the path safely.</p><p>	For a moment, just a moment, they were able to look up at the moon together. Hearing the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the cliff beneath them, breathing in the freedom of the night and the warmth of each other. Family.</p><p>	Slowly, they got to their feet. Chris resumed the lead again, and his brother tottered on his feet, unsteady from his scare. He stepped a little too close to the edge.</p><p>	Where there was supposed to be solid ground was actually a bank of snow that clung to the edge of the dirt path. The snow was not packed and firm enough to support the weight of a four year old boy. Chris could only watch as the ground vanished from beneath his brother, as the boy disappeared.</p><p>	His sister screamed as they rushed to the edge. The boy had managed to cling onto the side of the cliff directly beneath them, gripping onto a small ledge of rock with terrified fingers as the ocean beckoned him from below.</p><p>	Chris swallowed. He pushed all panic from his mind, forcing himself to stay calm as he knelt down. His brother was five, maybe six feet down the cliff. Chris’s arms were long, but not that long. Still, he leaned down as far as he could.</p><p>	“Reach up to me!” Chris called, making his voice as gentle and encouraging as he could. He realized his mistake when his brother let go with one hand and immediately screamed in fear. “Okay, okay! Keep holding on!” He turned to their sister. “Stay here. Don’t move. I’m going to climb down to him.”</p><p>	“What?” She shook her head in alarm. “How?”</p><p>	“I’ll find a way.”</p><p>	Chris slid one leg off the edge of the path. His stomach dropped as he stared down the fifty foot drop to the ocean far below. But looking down at the churning sea, he felt comfort rather than fear. In his moment of truth, the water lent him strength.</p><p>	He found a narrow foothold and inched his way down the cliffside to his desperately sobbing baby brother. </p><p>	Finally, he reached him. Somehow. He hung on with both his arms, unable to find a place for his feet. He sacrificed one of his arms to hold his brother close to him. </p><p>	“Now what?” called his sister.</p><p>	Oh. Well, that was the question, wasn’t it, Chris thought. <i> Now what? </i></p><p>	Chris felt his muscles straining. No matter how many sports he did at school, his scrawny thirteen-year-old arm wasn’t strong enough to hold his entire body weight plus his four-year-old brother. It certainly wouldn’t hold on long enough for their sister to run and get help. </p><p>	It didn’t look like his brother would be able to hold on on his own. So there was no chance they could both climb back up on their own. </p><p>	There were two options for this situation. </p><p>	Neither of them included both of the involved persons getting back on the path. </p><p>	Option one: Chris lost his grip, and both of them tumbled into the icy sea below.</p><p>	Not an option. Not gonna happen.</p><p>	Option two: Chris let go, and used the momentum of his fall to push his baby brother back up towards the path. That one depended on his sister being able to catch him. </p><p>	Chris grit his teeth and forced himself to hold on. He had to hold on. Had to. Can’t let go. Can’t let go, can’t let go, can’t let—</p><p>	“You’ll catch him, okay?” Chris called. “When I toss him, you’ll catch him.” He sized up the angle and the positioning. With both his arms, he was certain he could make the pass.</p><p>	But then he’d have no arms hanging on to the cliff, and no feet either. </p><p>	But that was okay.</p><p>	Because his sister would catch his brother, and they’d both be alright. They’d both be safe.</p><p>	“Alright, you ready kiddo?” Chris smiled. “3, 2, 1!”</p><p>	He let go.</p><p>	Just as he began to fall back, he grabbed his brother with both hands and shoved him upwards as fiercely as he could.</p><p>	His brother soared into the air, limbs spread-eagled as his sister lunged to catch him. Chris was falling farther and farther away from them, but he could glimpse the two of them standing on the path high above. </p><p>	But their voices weren’t relieved, he noted as the wind and gravity carried him down, down, down, to where the ocean would welcome him home below.</p><p>	Their voices screamed in terror, their small faces leaning over the edge.</p><p>	<i> No, it’s dangerous, </i> he wanted to tell them. <i> Stand back. </i></p><p>	The air seemed to float him down, wrapping and enveloping him in its snowy embrace. Snowflakes flecking his skin, kissing him with cold, as the sky consumed and released him.</p><p>	And then he hit the water.</p><p>	The waves warmed to his touch, pulling him down, down, down to the depths, deeper</p><p>		         deeper</p><p> </p><p>       deeper</p><p> </p><p>                                         deeper</p><p> </p><p>and deeper still.</p><p>And Chris felt the ocean welcome him home, watched the light fade from above, as he smiled for the last time.</p><p> </p><p>
  <i> cielo y tormenta </i>
</p><p> </p><p>“How many years ago was that?” Felix asks. Their legs are stretched out in front of them, watching the sun set over the beach in Busan. So far from that night in Australia long ago.</p><p>	Chris plays with their hands while he thinks. “Well, I was thirteen.” He twines and untwines Felix’s fingers with his own. “So probably… 112 years ago?”</p><p>	Felix chokes. “Sorry, how many?”</p><p>	Chris grins sheepishly as Felix twists around in his lap to stare at him. “You… didn’t know how old I am?”</p><p>	“Well I guess I do now.” Felix turns back to stare at the waves.</p><p>	“Listen, I’m young where it counts!” Chris assured him. “I’m only 23 physically. Have been for 102 years….” He trails off. Felix’s bleached blonde head doesn’t turn back to look at him. “What are you thinking about?”</p><p>	Felix shakes his head. “How did you do it?” He picks up a handful of sand and lets it sift through his fingers. “I mean, I love my sisters. But how did you find the strength in that moment to take that initiative and— and <i> do </i> something like that?” He turns to look at Chris in astonishment, who swallows uncertainly.</p><p>	“I guess—” Well, he does know the answer, doesn’t he? Something tells him if it were Felix in that situation he’d still do the same even today. “It was instinct, I think.”</p><p>	Felix raises his eyebrows. “Some people, man.”</p><p>	Chris laughs. They lived in different centuries, but he thinks Felix would have gotten along with his siblings well. Oh, to think how much fun his brother would have had in the modern age of media, how his sister would have loved to see the world as it is. </p><p>	“So how did you become like this, then?” Felix wonders, settling back against Chris’s chest. Chris feels his heart speed up. Felix has that effect on him. He doesn’t even think the human tries. </p><p>	“Someone saved me.”</p><p>	He remembers it clearly, drifting in the ocean, amazed at how he wasn’t drowning, how he could breathe. Then he turned and saw his body.</p><p>	A separated spirit, it was explained to him. Removed so he could fulfill his new fate.</p><p>	What was his new fate?</p><p>	“You’re being given a second chance,” Sangyeon had told him. So Chris had followed him.</p><p>	“So there are others like you?” Felix prompts. Chris nods. </p><p>	“Oh, yeah. Loads more. And not just ocean spirits. Wind spirits, earth spirits, flame spirits. All governed by the same spirit council, though.”</p><p>	“Ooh, there’s a spirit council!” Felix crowed. He’s really enjoying this, Chris notices in amusement. “Wow. Sounds fun.”</p><p>	“It’s not. They’re old and boring and political.” Chris cards his fingers through Felix’s strands, wondering at how soft and easy to deal with it must be. “Wish I had hair like this,” he muses out loud. </p><p>	“Well, that’s not very fun.” Felix twists around to tug at his curls. “And I <i> love </i> your hair.” He stares at Chris as the ocean spirit’s face heats up. “Your ears are <i> so red </i> right now.”</p><p>	“I can’t help it!” Chris whines. “This is your fault. You always do this to me.”</p><p>	Felix giggles, and it makes Chris’s heart go nuts. He helps the human to his feet. “Same time tomorrow, then?” He asks as the air grows awkward.</p><p>	Felix nods. “I’ll meet you here.”</p><p>	<i> Thank God you go to community college, </i> Chris wants to say out loud. <i> It keeps you close to me. </i></p><p>	He doesn’t speak, though. He steps forward, hand tucked against the side of Felix’s face and directing it down to his own. Chris leans forward and kisses him softly, eyes fluttering closed while they’re bathed in the light of the setting sun. All sounds disappear save for the ocean lapping at their feet.</p><p>	Felix jerks back, face flushed and hands fidgeting. </p><p>	“Sorry—” Chris feels like he should apologize.</p><p>	“No, sorry I’m just still— not used to—” He lets Felix find his words. “This.”</p><p>	“This?” Chris tilts his head in amusement.</p><p>	“You know what I mean!” Felix urges. </p><p>	Chris laughs. “Course I do.” </p><p>He stands on the beach long after Felix leaves. Chris can’t pinpoint the moment, exactly, when he stopped seeing Felix as an adorable little brother and began to view him as something more. But now they’re here, and he never wants to look back.</p><p>	<i> As much time as we have together, I’ll never look away from you. </i></p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	I huff dramatically as I set the last box down. <i> Set </i> is a little under-dramatic. The box jumps out of my slippery, slick-with-sweat hands and thumps down onto the dusty wooden slats they call a floor.</p><p>	My parents, who’ve been standing around more than helping for the last ten minutes, turn to me in surprise when they see me doing nothing. </p><p>	“Are you done already?” Mother asks in surprise.</p><p>	“Yep,” I reply with a grin. Grinning because I can’t wait for them to leave. Grinning to hide whether I actually want them to or not. </p><p>	“Well, at least you have the room to yourself,” Father observes, eyes sweeping the room cynically. There are two twin beds, each pushed into a corner, only a few feet of space separating them. There’s a shared night stand, two tiny desks, and a cramped bathroom in an attached room. </p><p>	I wasn’t sure if I was gonna get a roommate, but it looks like I got lucky. I scratch my head under my beanie and glance down at my bags and boxes. It doesn’t seem like my parents are going to help me unpack. Rather, they seem just as eager to get out of the tiny dorm room as I was to get out of Busan. </p><p>	No matter how bad it gets, I won’t complain, I told myself. I’m lucky enough they’re letting me go to this college, after I spent the last year begging. Away from the city, away from the beach, away from <i> them. </i></p><p>	Nothing but mountains and trees and the air up here.</p><p>	I sit on my bed after they leave— not so much as a hug goodbye— and knot and unknot my dirty shoe laces. More than the ocean, nothing has inspired me as much as the mountains. As much as the clean, fresh air that sweeps through them. The wind as it blows past me, so unbothered as it rushes on to wherever it has to go. Something far bigger and more important than the earth I stand on, certainly.</p><p>	Slowly, I reach for the boxes. Might as well start at some point. There’s no one here to motivate me to do it. </p><p>	The realization stabs me in the gut. There’s no one here but me. Sure, I have neighbors, and the thought of having to meet new people and make new friends and having to start all over, tell them who I am and what I like and make sure they’re not creeps or druggies and God what do I do if they think I’m annoying how do I make friends what am I supposed to do who can I ask why did I want to come out here in the first place—</p><p>	I clench my hands into fists. I’m spiraling. <i> Breathe, Jisung, it’s college, not the end of the world. </i></p><p>	But it definitely feels like it is.</p><p>	My meds… where’d I put my meds….</p><p>	I scrabble through my toiletries and other miscellaneous small bottles. I put them here. I know I did. But, no, actually, I’m pretty sure I left them sitting on the kitchen counter a two hour drive away and nobody reminded me to bring them. </p><p>	“Shit.” I shoot to my feet and bolt out the door, down the stairs to the first floor— thank God it’s only one flight— and pray my parents are still loitering in the parking lot, maybe stopped for coffee on the way out— </p><p>	They’re gone. The car is gone. They left already.</p><p>	Panting, I double over and hold my knees as I fight to catch my breath. The same hoodie I’ve worn the past three days is not the best running outfit. Neither are the sweatpants I can’t remember washing sometime in the past month. </p><p>	….I really need to get my life together.</p><p>	God, if only Hyunjin were here. </p><p>	Hyunjin always reminds me to take care of myself. But Hyunjin isn’t here, Hyunjin’s home, and I won’t get to complain to him unless I can find the courage to pick up the phone.</p><p>	Maybe things will be easier here. Maybe the distance will give me the balls to tell him what I should have over a year ago.</p><p>	I entertain myself by thinking of how it would go as I dejectedly trek back to my dorm room. </p><p>	<i> Hey Hyunjin, I wanted to tell you something…. Yeah college is fun…. Yeah there are some hot guys…. None as hot as you though! Oh, you also think I’m hot? Cool, you wanna go out? Oh, you were just kidding? Okay, that’s cool….. </i></p><p>	Even the good endings end up bad. I can’t think of a single way to actually bring it up. I’ll just ignore it and hope it goes away.</p><p>	At least I didn’t forget my key, I think, as I arrive back at the room. Although I’m not sure if I locked the door behind me.</p><p>	Apparently I didn’t, because not only is the door unlocked, it’s cracked open. I roll my eyes. I’m going to need to get in the habit of prioritizing security here.</p><p>	I push the door open and stop dead. </p><p>	All my suitcases and boxes have been piled onto one side of the room. The bed I sat on earlier is now covered in my stuff. The other side of the room has been cleared except for a black backpack and a duffel bag. Oh yeah, and the guy I’ve never seen before who’s lounging on the other bed. </p><p>	I choke on my saliva and hack and cough where I stand for a good few moments. The guy glances up from his phone for a second before looking back down. He’s dressed in black jeans and a leather jacket, and just looking at him I’m sweltering. But now I’d feel awkward shucking off my clothes in front of him, so I keep my hoodie on and suffer. </p><p>	“Um,” I say, just to break the silence. “Are you my roommate?” I inch farther into the room, trying to get a glimpse of his face. Part of me wants to make sure he’s not a middle-aged pedophile. The other part just wants to know if he’s hot.</p><p>	“Sure.” </p><p>	I make it to my bed and start clearing my stuff off. I glance over my shoulder at his side profile. It is a nice profile.</p><p>	His nose is high and sharp, his cheekbones defined and thin lips set in a cat-like curl. Dark hair swept neatly over his forehead, eyes concentrated on his phone, delicately shaped brows slightly furrowed. </p><p>	He definitely notices me staring at his face, but I can’t help myself. It’s such a nice face.</p><p>	“I’m Jisung,” I manage to squeak out after clearing my throat thoroughly. “Han Jisung.”</p><p>	“Minho,” is what I get in response. Okay, a name. Hot name for a hot guy. I’m getting somewhere. I’ve got game!</p><p>	Okay, not really. But <i> someone’s </i> got to be my number 1 fan.</p><p>	He’s pretty, too, I think as I sort through my bags and begin to empty them out. Not, like Hyunjin-level pretty, though. But of course, <i> no one’s </i> Hyunjin-level pretty. It’s just impossible. Not sure I should say that though.</p><p>	<i> By the way, did you know you’re drop-dead gorgeous? Not as gorgeous as my best friend who I’m in love with is, though. He’s, like, more of a supermodel, and you’re more a sexy dangerous biker guy. Did I mention I’m in love with him? </i></p><p>	See, I just shouldn’t even try. </p><p>	So instead, I entertain myself by sneaking looks at Minho while I unpack. I note that he seems several years older than me.</p><p>	“You look a little old for a freshman,” I mention casually.</p><p>	No response. Maybe he couldn’t hear me?</p><p>	I clear my throat. “Are you, uh, a transfer student, or—”</p><p>	“You could say that.” Minho does not seem interested in talking to me. That’s fine! That’s totally fine!</p><p>	It’s just, that. Having a roommate would make talking to people so much easier. Because it’d be forced on me. Really thought I had an opportunity there.</p><p>	I miss Felix. It was so easy to talk to the guy. Flirt, be annoying, be charming. He was so easily flustered. It didn’t take forever to get close to him like Hyunjin. And I mean, I’m <i> still </i> working on getting close to Hyunjin. Or, clos<i>er. </i></p><p>	“Are you going to the orientation tonight?” I ask, because the thought of getting to walk in next to someone and not looking like the lonely little loser I am is so tempting.</p><p>	“Nah.”</p><p>	“Ah, yeah, same, it seems like a waste of time, you know?” I immediately change tactics. Change of plans. I’m staying here with too-cool-for-school Minho because it’s the easy way out.</p><p>	Minho snorts. I wonder if it’s because he thinks I’m funny or because he thinks I’m stupid. Either one is true.</p><p>	“You know, I wasn’t expecting I would have a roommate,” I venture. “Did you?”</p><p>	“I figured, yeah,” Minho replies. He’s smirking, like he finds this amusing. Like I’m not drowning here trying to hold a simple conversation.</p><p>	I don’t know what else to say. So I turned back to unpacking. Minho puts earbuds in, and so do I. I play Taemin’s new album, and allow my worries to be sorted into the top drawer with the socks and my anxiety to be tucked away in the closet with my coats.</p><p> </p><p>	☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	I end up going to orientation. Staying in the dorm with Minho turns out to be stifling. Instead of giving me an easy target for human interaction, it was worse. He just sat there and ignored me and the gap to begin a conversation gradually grew wider and wider.</p><p>	Minho doesn’t go, so I walk to the event center on my own. It’s just as lonely and depressing as I imagined.</p><p>	It’s getting dark, and not only do I not have a flashlight, I also don’t know my way around. So I stumble around on the dark paths of the steep campus hills until I find the large crowd of freshmen. </p><p>	I don’t know a single person here, I realize, as I linger by the refreshments table. They make us do ice breaker games and mnemonics to remember where all the buildings on campus are. It’s hell, and I’d rather be back in my dorm watching cat videos with Minho.</p><p>	I wonder how it would be if Hyunjin were here. If Felix, and Seungmin and Jeongin were here. Hell, I’d even take Changbin. </p><p>	An overly enthusiastic girl— I assume she must be part of student leadership, no one’s that excited about college— comes over to try and involve me in the activities. I tell her I have asthma and can’t do physical exercise. Just like my high school PE teachers, she buys it.</p><p>	This is quite possibly one of the worst situations I’ve ever been in. I think about texting someone, but everyone I know is probably busy. They’re probably doing actually useful things with their lives. Unlike me.</p><p>There are people standing by the doors, making it difficult to leave. But it’s so obvious that I’m just sitting over here by myself, and the panic setting in makes me freeze up. Maybe if I were wearing something different, if I had remembered to take my meds this morning.	</p><p>	Maybe if I had somebody to come in with, I’d feel better about leaving on my own.</p><p>	So I sit there, body stiff and mind spiraling, until I remember Minho sitting in our dorm by himself. I wonder if he’s lonely. Probably not. I still haven’t figured out if he actually has emotions or not.</p><p>	The thought makes me smile, and somehow I’ve pushed myself to my feet. I pretend I’m heading out to a chill movie night with my friends. Seungmin picked out our favorite Disney movie, Jeongin decorated the room into a pillow fort, Felix brought snacks. Hyunjin is there on the couch, waiting for me to sit beside him. </p><p>	I walk a little faster.</p><p>	I’ve cleared the doors, and suddenly I burst out into the crisp night air. It’s pitch black now, so I pick a direction and walk. Hopefully I’ll make it back to the dorm before dawn.</p><p>	There’s a light on outside one of the dorm buildings. They’re not on a time schedule, so someone must have switched it on. I head towards it.</p><p>	It’s my building. A freshman building. But everyone’s at orientation, so who would have thought to turn it on?</p><p>	I follow the light until I’m surrounded by it, and when I’m no longer drenched in darkness the spiraling anxieties from just a few moments prior seem to disappear.</p><p>	Only one of the dorms has its light on, and I can see a silhouette inside. Oh, right. The reason I left. </p><p>Minho.</p><p>	I climb the stairs, passing the dark first floor to the second floor with its hall light on. I can’t remember if it was on when I left. I’m fairly certain I was the last person in the dorm to even leave.</p><p>	Someone must have turned it on after I left. But why?</p><p>	The dorm isn’t even locked when I push the door open. Minho doesn’t seem to have any regard for his personal safety. He’s sitting right where I left him, eyes glued to his phone. I wonder if he’ll even say anything if I speak to him.</p><p>	“Find your way back alright?”</p><p>	Did he just… initiate a conversation on his own?</p><p>	“Y-yeah,” I stutter as I kick off my shoes.</p><p>	“Good.” His eyes flick over to me and settle on my face for a brief moment. He looks away again. </p><p>	I shake my head. What a weird day. </p><p>	I don’t bother changing my clothes— I haven’t in days— before I throw myself down onto my bed and conk out.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Minho flicked the light off after Jisung fell asleep last night. He knows that, but it doesn’t change the fact that he wakes in a panic, plunged in darkness and forgetting where he is.</p><p>	He’s in a freshman dorm on a college campus. Quite possibly the strangest place he’s ever found himself.</p><p>	He tugs the curtains open to cast some light into the room. Jisung is sprawled across his bed, white hoodie rumpled and cheek squashed up against his pillow. </p><p>	Minho is about to turn away— it’s just a bit odd to watch the boy in his sleep— when he notices something peculiar.</p><p>	The human is… leaking. </p><p>	His face is smushed against the pillow, mouth slightly open, and there’s a string of some shiny, translucent liquid dangling from his lips.</p><p>	Minho feels a stab of alarm. Is that normal? Is the human sick, or perhaps dead? Should he try to wake him up? Is there someone he can call?</p><p>	He thinks of Chan. Chan knows much more about humans than Minho does.</p><p>	But Chan doesn’t have a phone, because he lives under the fucking water, and he’s probably off romping around with his human boyfriend somewhere.</p><p>	<i> His eyes look like they hold all the galaxies in them, and he has more freckles than the sky has stars, and you should see him when he smiles, and— </i></p><p>	And stop, <i> stop, </i> just shut up, stop <i> talking, </i> Minho can’t <i> take </i> anymore. Can’t take that reminder of what he almost had but never has.</p><p>	The dilemma is solved when Jisung groans softly and his body twitches awake. Minho turns from where he’s standing over his bed as Jisung lifts a hand to wipe at his mouth.</p><p>	“Uh,” he says when he notices Minho staring at him.</p><p>	Minho can’t think of anything to say that would explain his behavior, so he stays silent. </p><p>	“Um, I promise I don’t usually drool in my sleep.” Jisung laughs nervously as he rolls up. His dark hair is sticking up all over, his face slightly swollen. Minho resists the urge to poke his cheeks. </p><p>	He soothes his worries. So it must be a normal human thing. Perhaps a little embarrassing, but not a cause for alarm.	</p><p>	Jisung’s almond-shaped eyes are fixed on him as Minho returns to his bed. “Don’t you have class to get to?” Minho points out after having observed Jisung’s schedule while the younger boy was absent last night.</p><p>	“Don’t you?” Jisung counters.</p><p>	“Don’t you?”</p><p>	Jisung has no response to Minho’s superior argument.</p><p>	“You should change your clothes. When was the last time you wore real pants?”</p><p>	Jisung swings around to face him. Since when did Minho get involved in his life? What was the point of opening his mouth just now? What gives him the right to say anything? Minho wants to kick himself in the ass. </p><p>	Jisung heads into the bathroom to— hopefully— put on fresh clothes, and Minho thinks about his previously interrupted train of thought. Then he remembers where he’s supposed to be today.</p><p>	He scrambles out of bed anxiously, searching for a new outfit himself, before recalling there’s really no rush as he can transform into a gust of wind and be anywhere within moments, depending on the weather.</p><p>	Jisung reemerges a few moments later to an empty bedroom. He scratches his head, wondering when he missed hearing the dorm room door open and shut.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	“Table for how many?”</p><p>	“Four, please!”</p><p>	Hyunjin adjusts the cap on his head and leads the family to a booth by the window. He lays their menus down on the table and flashes a winning smile. “Just let me know when you’re ready!” He returns to the kitchen, tugging his long hair out of its low ponytail. He passes the empty hostess stand, knowing Chaeyoung owes him for covering for her.</p><p>	Luckily, karma comes soon for him, as the bell above the diner door rings again, and this time it’s a party of two just for him. </p><p>	Grinning, Hyunjin grabs a pair of menus and goes to greet Seungmin and Jeongin.</p><p>	“Cover for me, alright?” He mutters to Chaeyoung as she reemgerges, pocketing her phone from where she’d been texting her girlfriend.</p><p>	“Yeah, yeah, sure,” she grumbles, like he hadn’t just been covering her ass.</p><p>	“How’s business, hyung?” Jeongin chirps as Hyunjin slides into the booth beside Seungmin. </p><p>	“Businessing,” Hyunjin replies, tugging his cap off and dragging his fingers through his hair. </p><p>	“How’s the payoff, I think, is what he meant,” Seungmin observes, playing with his straw.</p><p>	“Oh.” Hyunjin spreads his hands out on the table and examines his long fingers. “I’m still $30k short.”</p><p>	Jeongin whistles. “Minimum wage isn’t exactly cutting it then, me thinks.”</p><p>	Hyunjin glares at him. “Gee thanks, I hadn’t noticed.”</p><p>	“But you’re getting there,” Seungmin points out. “I mean, you’re hot, so you’re racking up the tips.”</p><p>	Hyunjin rolls his eyes. “That’d be more serviceable in a different kind of establishment, but I’m not sinking that low. I’m not <i> that </i> desperate yet.”</p><p>	“I mean, it’s just college,” Seungmin points out. “You’re not really missing out on much.” He has no idea how much his privilege is showing.</p><p>	“Yeah, nothing but my own future.” He could, Hyunjin figures, go to a community college like Felix until he figures out what he wants to do. But he doesn’t want to take standardized classes on history and literature and sit in a lecture hall all day.</p><p>	He needs the money for the performing arts school he’s had his eyes set on since he was eight. Since he realized he wants to dance for a living.</p><p>	The amount of stripper jokes that came out of his friends after learning that was <i> unbelievable. </i></p><p>	“I wish there was more we could do to help.” Jeongin is rummaging in his pocket now. Hyunjin’s thoughts are spiraling farther and farther away from the diner booth, up into the mountains where there’s nothing but trees and fresh air. Jeongin slaps something down on the table. Hyunjin’s mind snaps away from Jisung and onto the $100 bill in front of him.</p><p>	“What’s this?” </p><p>	“Money,” Jeongin points out.</p><p>	“I know that,” Hyunjin snaps. “Why are you putting it there?”</p><p>	“For you!” Jeongin grins. “My tip. For excellent service.”</p><p>	Hyunjin’s fingers itch to snatch it up and pocket it. “Put that away, Jeongin.” He glances out the window. </p><p>	“Nope.” Jeongin’s fingers play with the bill. Hyunjin’s eyes track the movement. “Just take it.”</p><p>	“I will not.”</p><p>	“You will. It’s easy— I’ll help you.” He slides the money across the table. “You reach out, pick it up, and put it in your wallet. Then you say, ‘Thank you, Jeongin, you’re the best friend ever.”</p><p>	“Just take it,” Seungmin mutters, draining his Coke. “He’s not going to take it back.”</p><p>	Hyunjin sighs and takes the money. “It won’t really help in the long run. You just want to feel helpful.”</p><p>	“Yep!” Jeongin chirps. “So, you talk to Jisung-hyung lately?”</p><p>	Hyunjin freezes. Somehow, the conversation’s become even more uncomfortable.</p><p>	“We’re really going there?” Seungmin grumbles.</p><p>	“I haven’t really,” Hyunjin says carefully. “I think he’s busy with college.” Jisung had left even before the annual summer carnival. Unlike last year, it hadn’t been nearly as fun with just the four of them. </p><p>	“Yeah, sure,” Jeongin shoots a glance at Seungmin. “That’s totally the reason. So remind us why, exactly, you haven’t shut up about him since he left?”</p><p>	Hyunjin flushes. “Not true at all, Yang.”</p><p>	“Uh huh.” Jeongin raises his eyebrows. “Sure, hyung.”</p><p>	“I just—” Hyunjin fidgets with the tablecloth. “I’m sure he’s busy with his new college friends and stuff.”</p><p>	“And that means you can’t text him?” Seungmin asks.</p><p>	“Well, no, but—”</p><p>	“You’re fishing for excuses, Hyunjin-hyung,” Jeongin tells him. He takes a slurp of Seungmin’s soda knowingly. “And you’ve never been good at fishing.”</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Minho stands at the edge of the beach. He rubs his fingers over the smooth surface of the gray pebble in his hand. He arches his arm back and skips the rock across the water.</p><p>	Okay, so skipping rocks is not his specialty. The pebble plunks into the sea and sinks to the bottom.</p><p>	But it’ll do the trick. Minho picks up another rock and hurtles it into the water.</p><p>	A very annoyed Bang Chan emerges a moment later. He’s rubbing the back of his head like some moron just threw a rock at it or something.</p><p>	“Did you need something?” Chan asks dryly, despite dripping with salty ocean water. He perches on the edge of a rocky outcrop and raises his eyebrows down at Minho.</p><p>	“Yeah, you said we’d meet up today.”</p><p>	“Oh, right.” Chan scooches over as Minho comes to sit beside him. “So, how’s it going?”</p><p>	“Terrible. I’m only one day in and I’m not sure how much longer I can take it.”</p><p>	“Uh huh.” Chan’s eyes say he doesn’t believe a word.</p><p>	“I don’t know why I ever thought this would be a good idea, to be honest,” Minho sighs. “He’s exactly like I thought. All humans are bumbling, awkward examples of an embarrassment to the Earth.” He remembers who he’s talking to. “Or, well— not all of them,” he scrambles to cover his ass as Chan’s eyes narrow. “Just the ones I’ve met.”</p><p>	“Okay.” Chan smiles. “Well, I’m sure he’ll change your mind. Isn’t that the purpose of what you’re doing?”</p><p>	“Yeah, but in theory. I never actually thought it might work, so I’m not surprised it’s going badly.”</p><p>	“Oh, come on, Minho!” Chan drapes himself over the younger spirit’s shoulders dramatically. “It’s only the first day. You can’t say it’s going badly yet!”</p><p>	“Why not? I just said it. It’s. Going. Badly.”</p><p>	“Well, from what I’ve heard about him—” Chan props his chin on his hands and gazes at Minho knowingly. “I think it might work out.”</p><p>	“And what’s that supposed to mean?”</p><p>	“Oh, you’ll find out.”</p><p>	Voices cut through their conversation, and the two spirits exchange a startled glance. Minho spins into a draft of autumn wind, and Chan dissolves into a tide pool nestled in the crack between two rocks.</p><p>	Two boys emerge onto the beach, walking side by side. Minho recognizes one as Felix just from the multiple detailed descriptions he’s suffered through— er, heard, from Chan. The other man is shorter, muscular, with a narrow, pointed face. Minho drifts closer to listen.</p><p>	“Well, everything’s so dependent on technology these days, so it is a little difficult,” Felix is saying. “But we’re really good at communicating. So that kind of keeps us together.”</p><p>	“So, what, you just agree on the next time you meet each time you have a date or something?” The other boy asks.</p><p>	“Yeah, pretty much.” They sit down facing the ocean. Minho floats forward until he’s riding the breeze just behind them. “But Chris is really understanding, so we haven’t had any problems.”</p><p>	Minho pauses, feeling gleeful. They’re talking about Chan! Oh, this is great. He twists his form to look back to where Chan is still huddled as a tidepool. Sucker.</p><p>	<i> Chris. </i> Dumbass, that isn’t even his real name.</p><p>	Felix turns to his friend with a beam. “What about you, Changbin-hyung?”</p><p>	Minho feels bad now. The kid’s cute, sure, but he seems like a wholesome little angel. Even jokingly being mean seems like too much.</p><p>	“I’ve been meaning to reach out to Jisung, actually.” Minho freezes— as much as he can being a draft of air. “You know he’s up at college right now. He’s worried about not having any friends. He doesn’t know anyone there, you know. He hasn’t said anything— but I know him. You know how he’s always worried no one will like him. I’m worried about his anxiety getting out of control.”</p><p>	Jisung has anxiety? Well, he did seem a little awkward. But Minho hadn’t paid enough attention to take note. Maybe he should try harder.</p><p>	“He was fine when he was with us last year,” Felix muses. “I hope he’s doing okay. I’m lucky to be here, because I have Chris, and all of you.” He rests his head on knees. “I hope he remembers we all care about him.” </p><p>	Minho floats back to the rock outcrop. </p><p>	“What are they saying?” Chan hisses, bubbles bursting to the surface of his tidepool.</p><p>	“Nothing interesting,” Minho whispers back. He can’t focus on their conversation anymore. He’s too busy thinking about his roommate. <i> He doesn’t know anyone there. </i></p><p>	Well, that’s not <i> entirely </i> true, is it?</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	“So it <i> is </i> Wickham.”</p><p>	“I didn’t say that.”</p><p>	“Yes, you kind of did. I asked which character was the one lying and you said the one that doesn’t get the girl. Unless you’ve never actually read Pride and Prejudice.” I spin a pen between my fingers and turn to look at Minho. We’re sitting under a tree on the lawn, Minho attached to his phone, me actually getting work done for class.</p><p>	“Do I look like I’ve read Pride and Prejudice?” </p><p>	I squint at him. “Hard to say….”</p><p>	It’s been a week since the beginning of classes. Minho’s sort of a tsundere, I decide. Cold on the outside but warm as one of Felix’s fudgy brownies on the inside.</p><p>	Minho huffs and puts his phone down.</p><p>	“Do you even do your homework?” I scold him. He throws his bag of Doritos at me. “Hey, I’m just saying!” I swat the offending bag of chips away. “I feel like I never actually see you doing any work.”</p><p>	Minho glares at me. It’s not nearly as effective as it would have been a week ago. He seems to be opening up to me. I figure he’s just shy. Probably doesn’t have any friends here either. The thought warms my heart.</p><p>	Or it’s due to my inevitable, unavoidable charm and sex appeal.</p><p>	Probably not, though.</p><p>	Either way, it’s good to have someone I’m… maybe not friendly with, but someone I know. Someone I can complain to about Pride and Prejudice, at least.</p><p>	“Are you secretly struggling with your common core classes? I can help you out with that, you know.” I puff out my chest and flutter my eyelashes at him. He rolls his eyes.</p><p>	“Yeah, no. Sorry, but I’m the smartest person I know.”</p><p>	“How many people do you know, exactly?”</p><p>	Minho has no answer and goes back to his phone. I decide to leave the teasing where it is in case he decides I’m more trouble than I’m worth. Really, I’m not sure what I bring to the table in this… almost-friendship. </p><p>	Minho’s cool and aloof and makes me look cooler by association when we walk into the cafeteria together. I’m the awkward guy shuffling along behind him in my skinny jeans and anime hoodies. Not that I’m ashamed of my style, or anything. It just takes a little motivation for me to put in the effort, is all.</p><p>	A breakthrough comes when Minho finds the acoustic guitar I brought. </p><p>	“You have musical talent?” He sounds offensively surprised, but he’s my cool friend for now, so I can’t get offended.</p><p>	“Yeah, I’d say so.” I pop open the case and pull out the instrument. “Guitar, the occasional lyric writing, some singing and rapping.”</p><p>	“Huh.” Minho leans over from his bed to examine the guitar. “Can you play?”</p><p>	“Well, yeah.” It’s only a few moments later I realize he means right now. “Oh, uh— well, let’s see. Um.” I pull out my notebook of songs. “Like, an original?”</p><p>	“I don’t care.” Minho leans back on his bed and folds his arms behind his bed. I feel a little awkward just sitting here with my guitar, about to play a song for him. There’s something about a serenade that feels far more intimate than the relationship we’ve built within the last few weeks.</p><p>“Well… I picked out this acoustic version of Likey,” I suggest. Minho snorts.</p><p>“Alright. Hit me.”</p><p>I strum out the chords, singing along to the hook lightly. Minho surprises me by singing along. </p><p>I stop after the first chorus.</p><p>“Why’d you stop?” Minho sits up and shoots me a grin. “I was enjoying our jam sesh.”</p><p>	“You have a nice voice,” I blurt out. Minho blinks. “Sorry.”</p><p>	“Thanks.” Minho lays back down. “So do you.”</p><p>	The comment is genuine, surprisingly so. No teasing, just a compliment. I smile. </p><p>	Maybe college here isn’t so bad. I’m on the path to making my first friend. That’ll last me through four years of social situations, stress, and anxiety, right?</p><p>	I’m not too good at looking at the future.</p><p>	I’m a friendly guy. I like making friends. It’s just the problem that every person I talk to probably thinks I’m annoying as hell and has no reason to <i> want </i> to be my friend.</p><p>	“I’ve got a lecture in ten,” I realize, checking my phone. “When’s your next class?”</p><p>	“Fifteen,” Minho replies. “I’ll walk with you to your class.”</p><p>	That’s a friend thing to do, I think as I return the guitar to its case. Walking to class together and singing together. Things friends do. </p><p>	I realize, after Minho waves goodbye and I turn to enter the lecture hall, that I hadn’t told Minho where my class was. I hope his classroom is nearby.</p><p>	In my lecture we talk about the book we were supposed to read. I doodle flowers in my notebook and think about Hyunjin. </p><p>	Flowers do that to me. Back in Busan he was always insisting I take pictures of him with any pretty plant in sight. For the Instagram aesthetic, he’d insist. It went over my head why he was so obsessed with it, but like hell I cared. I was just glad to be the one holding the camera. To see all the behind the scenes people on Instagram don’t get to see.</p><p>	Like when he sneezes from pollen and freezes in shock from the loud sound. When he laughs so hard his strawberry milkshake comes out his nose and his sounds of joy turn into sounds of pain. How late at night at our group hangouts he gets clingy and wants someone to hold during the movie. How it’s usually me next to him who ends up with his arms around me.</p><p>	I see the pictures that end up on his Instagram, and I get it. The way his hair falls perfectly around his face, just as startlingly pretty as the flowers he holds. That shy little smirk that sets everyone off in the comments, but otherwise lives only in the lyrics in my notebook.</p><p>	Where am I supposed to be? Oh, right. Pride and Prejudice.</p><p>	I read the words Darcy wrote to Elizabeth and think about how similar they are to the songs that no one, especially not Hyunjin, will ever see. I wonder what he’d think if I showed them to him. I wonder if his reaction would be similar to Elizabeth’s, utter shock that someone you thought of one way could see you entirely in another.</p><p>	I emerge from the lecture hall an hour and a half later and blink into the afternoon sunlight. It’s dizzying how fast time goes in class when you’re not paying attention.</p><p>	“Jisung.”</p><p>	Minho is leaning against the outside of the building, sunglasses shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare.</p><p>	“Oh.” I stop, well aware that I’m blocking the stream of students flooding outside. “Hi.” What is he doing here?</p><p>	“Wanna grab lunch?”</p><p>	Oh. </p><p>	It’s just past noon, which makes it a normal lunch time. We both obviously don’t have classes right now. We both have to go to the cafeteria for lunch anyway. So obviously we would go together. The way he phrases it makes no difference.</p><p>	I begin to walk towards him, waiting for him to lead the way. Then I remember I haven’t actually said anything yet. “Oh, yeah. Sure. Totally.” I nod way too many times and he raises his eyebrows. </p><p>	“Okay. Cool.” He turns and I scramble to hurry after him. </p><p>	“How was class?” I ask as I catch up to him. Minho grunts in response. I let it be.</p><p>	As far as friends go, he’s far from what I’m used to. But from the options I’ve got right now, I think I landed myself a pretty solid deal.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	“You wanna go to a party?”</p><p>	I raise my head from my notes. “A what?”</p><p>	“A party.” Minho leans against the wall above my nightstand. <i> The </i> nightstand, actually, since the dorm’s only big enough for one. It’s sandwiched between our single beds and looks out over the main lawn. I stare out the window as I process the words a <i> party. </i></p><p>	“Like… a college party?” I don’t know why it’s so hard to wrap my head around.</p><p>	“Yeah.” Minho somehow hasn’t lost his patience with me yet. “This guy I know, Hyunjae. He’s throwing it at a frat house tonight.”</p><p>	“So why are you asking me?” I wonder.</p><p>	Minho actually looks uncomfortable for a moment. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into his miniscule change in facial expression. </p><p>	“You don’t have to go,” he says. He turns and grabs his leather jacket from the chair by the door. I rarely see him without it. His style is all band tees and skinny jeans tighter than mine. It’s like he’s challenging me or something.</p><p>	“What time is it?” I ask even though a college party at a frat house sounds even worse than my freshman orientation experience. </p><p>	“9. Do you know where it is?”</p><p>	“No,” I say honestly, because I’ve been doing my best to leave the dorm as little as possible. The outside world is <i> scary. </i></p><p>	Minho sighs. “Of course not. We’ll go together then, I guess.”</p><p>	I blink. Was he expecting me to go on my own? Kinda rude if he was inviting me.</p><p>	<i> He wasn’t </i> inviting <i> you, </i> I remind myself. <i> He was just telling you about it. Dumbass. </i></p><p>	The thought of going to a party makes me nervous. I can barely focus on my homework. I have to write a whole essay by tomorrow, and going to a party tonight is not going to help.</p><p>	But Minho <i> invited </i> me. Or, he asked me about it. Doesn’t matter. I’m going.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	9:00 finds me and Minho standing outside a frat house overflowing with drunken college students. I’ve already braced myself for the worst— I’m assuming it’ll be exactly like in the movies— and walking inside I’m greeted by exactly what I was expecting. </p><p>	Dudes doing keg stands, bass-boosted music, bodies packed so closely together I almost lose track of Minho. </p><p>	We make it to the kitchen, where the drinks and snacks are. I take a breath. I hope Minho won’t expect me to keep up with his cool friend group and do shots with them or whatever cool friend groups do together.</p><p>	Then Minho says, “Catch you later,” and vanishes into the crowd.</p><p>	I blink for several long moments before the panic sets in.</p><p>	Minho has left me alone in a sea of strangers in an environment that contains a thousand triggers for the crushing anxiety I don’t have my meds for. I shrink back into the closest corner— against the kitchen counter— and grip the walls to ground myself. I force my body to take steadying, deep breaths before I can spiral out of control. Thankfully, I have the room to myself at the moment. But any second, the thronging horde of bodies can make their way in here and crush me out of existence. </p><p>	I stare down at my platform boots. I’m awkwardly pigeon-toed— my anime girl stance, Hyunjin calls it— and I focus on my shoelaces to just have something to look at. </p><p>	I’m looking down at the ground so I only hear, don’t see, when someone starts shuffling around with the drinks to my left. I jolt up and bump into the fridge on my right. </p><p>	It’s just one person, I see in relief. A guy, probably an upperclassman, fixing himself an awful-looking concoction of alcohol.</p><p>	“Sorry,” he says when he notices me. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” He grins. Long, sharp nose, high cheekbones, cute squinty eyes when he smiles. I find myself smiling back subconsciously. </p><p>	“It’s fine.” My voice is much higher and squeakier than I remember.</p><p>	“You a freshman?” He finishes making his drink and comes to lean against the counter beside me. Just a little too inside my personal space bubble than I’m comfortable with. </p><p>	“Um—” I try to squish myself closer to the fridge. “Yeah.”</p><p>	“This your first party?” He leans his arm on the counter behind me like me trying to scoot away from him goes right over his head.</p><p>	“You can tell?” I laugh. He laughs too, way more than he should considering what I said was not that funny. </p><p>	“I haven’t caught your name,” he says, still grinning at me. “I’m Juyeon.”</p><p>	“Jisung,” I manage to say.</p><p>	Juyeon shifts his body so he’s leaning against the fridge in front of me, backing me into the corner. Closing me off from the rest of the room. </p><p>	“What do you think of the school?” He takes a sip from his drink while his eyes roam up and down my body. I’m not really much to look at— my <i> No Game No Life </i> hoodie hides the biceps I worked so hard to cultivate over the summer— and I can’t help but squirm under his gaze. Were the walls around us so close together before?</p><p>	“Uh— it’s nice.” I’m trying to remember why I fought so hard to come here. Oh, right— to escape my parents. </p><p>	I didn’t really come here for the academics. It’s just the farthest I could get from the city. The closest I could come to the sky. </p><p>	“Yeah, it is,” Juyeon says with a grin, like I’d offered an adequate and educated insight. He leans his arm against the counter so he’s almost pressing me against the fridge and the corner of the countertop. His other hand reaches down to play with the hem of my hoodie. The walls seem to close in tighter around me. “Hey, so—”</p><p>	“There you are!” A girl’s voice cuts through whatever Juyeon was about to say. “What’ve you been doing in the kitchen for so long?”</p><p>	Juyeon removes his arm and steps back from me. I almost gasp in relief and move farther away from him. The walls seem to expand once more.</p><p>	A girl with long blonde hair and a black summer dress stands with her arms crossed. She spots me in the corner and something shifts in her eyes. </p><p>	“Made a friend,” Juyeon explains with a shark-like grin. “You need me for something, Mina?”</p><p>	Mina makes her way across the kitchen with practiced caution and comes to stand next to me. She’s positioned herself between me and Juyeon, I realize. </p><p>	“Hyunjae’s looking for you.” I’m not sure if Juyeon can tell, but there’s something in the way Mina says it that makes me think it’s a lie.</p><p>	“Oh, he is?” Juyeon glances at me in disappointment. “I’ll go see what he wants.” He turns and wanders out of the kitchen.</p><p>	My shoulders slump once he’s out of my sight. I didn’t even realize how tense I’d been throughout the whole encounter. </p><p>	Mina turns to me with a friendly smile. “Are you alright?” She doesn’t touch me, doesn’t reach out. Keeps her distance and watches me with concern.</p><p>	I nod, breathing air back into my lungs. </p><p>	“I’m sorry about him, he’s a little touchy sometimes when he drinks. He’s not too bad, though.” Mina shrugs bashfully. “Is there anything I can get you?”</p><p>	I shake my head. I don’t know this girl— why is she being so nice?</p><p>	“Okay, well, then—” She turns to leave. </p><p>	“Wait!” I don’t know why I want her to wait. “You’re leaving?” Oh. I don’t want to be alone.</p><p>	“Uh—” Mina laughs. She glances towards a black haired girl reigning over an audience on the couch. </p><p>	“Mina, come on!” The girl calls. A group of people all turn to look at us. </p><p>	“Coming, Momo!” </p><p>	I shrink back out of eyesight. </p><p>	“You’ll be fine,” Mina promises me, and vanishes back into the living room.</p><p>	And now I’m alone again. I glance towards the drinks beside me. I’ve only had alcohol once, and it was stolen from Jeongin’s parents’ liquor cabinet and we all agreed it was disgusting. Maybe this isn’t the best environment to experiment again, though.</p><p>	I’m struggling to decide between staying put, leaving on my own, or trying to find Minho when the decision is made for me. </p><p>	“Sorry about that.” Juyeon is back. I feel my chest tighten. “Couldn’t find him, actually.”</p><p>	“It’s fine,” I find myself saying, even though it’s not. </p><p>	“Hey, you seem a little nervous.”</p><p>	I perk up. Yes! Yes, I am! Please leave me alone!</p><p>	“Would you wanna get away from the crowd a bit?” Juyeon sets his drink down and is now examining me with a different look I can’t quite describe. </p><p>	“Where?” I ask, wondering if there’s even an end to the sea of drunk college students.</p><p>	Juyeon gives me a wolfish grin. “There are some rooms upstairs I think are vacant.”</p><p>	I start to relax. Maybe he’s not so awful after all. I mean, he noticed I was freaked out by the party and now he’s offering to take me somewhere quieter. </p><p>	Mina was right. He’s not such a bad guy.</p><p>	“Sure,” I say. I let him lead me out of the kitchen. As we pass through the living room, I look for Mina. I see her standing by the wall with a group of her friends. One of them, with his back to me, has slicked-back brown hair and a black leather jacket. I swallow. </p><p>Minho. Who ditched me as soon as we got here and left me to deal with Juyeon all by myself. Juyeon, who snakes his arm around my waist and tugs me closer to him. I yelp and try to step out of his grip. </p><p>	“What’s wrong?” He grabs me tighter. </p><p>	“Um—” I don’t want to cause a scene, because we’re almost in the middle of the living room, but I <i> really </i> don’t like the way his hand is creeping farther and farther down my back. </p><p>	The lights overhead are too bright, the voices and sounds much too loud, and suddenly just like in the kitchen the walls close together again. The ceiling is far too low, the ground rising up to meet it. I’m being boxed in on all sides. </p><p>	My breath comes short and fast, black spots dancing in my vision. I lose track of where Juyeon is, where Mina and her friends are. I don’t know if I’m standing or if I collapsed to the ground. </p><p>	But no, I know where Juyeon is, because his <i> hand </i> is still there, right where I wish it wouldn’t be, and he’s still leading me towards the stairs up to a bedroom where I wish he wouldn’t. </p><p>	And then his hand is gone, wrenched off me as if by force. And someone’s arm is around me, leading me back through the living room and through the front door and outside. I only know where I end up because my eyes are fixed on my feet. But I know Juyeon is no longer next to me, and suddenly I can breathe. </p><p>	It’s quieter outside, and I stagger away from the house and sit down hard on the sidewalk. It’s getting dark out, but not too dark so I can’t see. There aren’t too many people out here. I can gulp big lungfuls of air and my thoughts begin to piece themselves together once more. </p><p>	<i> Who was that? </i> I suddenly think with a jolt. Because someone took me out of the house, and I’m not alone. There’s someone here, next to me— was it Mina? Did she come back when she saw how uncomfortable I was?</p><p>	I’m shivering. It’s cold, and my hoodie isn’t doing much. I don’t realize I’m freezing until a leather jacket is draped around my shoulders. </p><p>	I raised my head to meet the curiously concerned eyes of Lee Minho.</p><p>	I feel so startled at seeing him that I have no words. I’d felt angry earlier, seeing him with his friends, enjoying himself while I panicked alone in a corner. But now I’m just confused. </p><p>	His chestnut eyes are wide and round as they look at me. His cheeks are flushed, but whether it's from drinking or the cold, I can’t tell. His hair is slightly ruffled, and he runs a hand through it as he settles down next to me. I sit and wait for him to speak first. </p><p>	“I’m sorry.” </p><p>	I jerk back to stare at him. Well, I wasn’t expecting that.</p><p>	“I didn’t know it would be this bad.” Minho plays with his fingers and avoids my gaze. “I shouldn’t have just left you by yourself, I’m sorry. I thought you’d just find people on your own, but that wasn’t fair of me to think like that. I should have stayed with you.” </p><p>	“Oh.” I stare at my feet. “It’s okay.”</p><p>	“It’s not, though.”</p><p>	I blink. It’s not?</p><p>	“Were you fine with him?” Minho asks. I scrunch my face in confusion. “With Juyeon,” he clarifies.</p><p>	“He scared me.”</p><p>	“He also wanted to have sex with you.”</p><p>	I choke on my own saliva. “What? How do you know that?”</p><p>	“He was bringing you upstairs. What else do people do upstairs at parties?”</p><p>	“He…” I rack my brain to remember what I was thinking. “He said we should go somewhere less crowded. Because I was uncomfortable.”</p><p>	“Yeah, because you’re easy prey for someone like him.” Minho leans back against the fence behind us and folds his arms. “Cause he’s an asshole, and he thought I’d hesitate to beat his ass for touching you.”</p><p>	Minho blinks as he realizes what he said. “Well, or anyone like that. He’s just an asshole. Like, in general. Didn’t have to be you.” He glances away and then looks at me again. “So I guess you weren’t down for that.”</p><p>	I shake my head furiously. Minho laughs. I realize there’s something I need to say too. “Then… thank you, I guess.” Minho blinks. “You kinda saved me from him back there.”</p><p>	Our eyes fix on my nervously shaking leg. “You can go back in,” I blurt out. “You don’t have to stay out here with me. I’m fine.” I’m definitely not fine.</p><p>	Minho shakes his head. “Nope, I’m good. I’m kinda done with them, anyway.” He sighs and stretches his legs out as he stands. “You wanna head back to the room?”</p><p>	“Hmm? Oh, yes, please.” He helps me to my feet and I cast a glance back at the house.</p><p>	“Let’s never come here again.” </p><p>	“Oh, agreed.” I’m surprised Minho is so angry about it. Nothing really happened to him.<br/>
We walk in silence for a few minutes before Minho speaks again. “I didn’t know your anxiety was so bad.”</p><p>	Oh. “Yeah, well, I kinda forgot my meds at the beginning of the year, so I don’t have them with me.”</p><p>	MInho frowns. “So what helps you, then?” 	</p><p>	“Well…” I’m unnerved by the way he’s looking at me. The intensity of his focus, like he’s hanging onto my every word. “I like anime,” I find myself saying. “Studio Ghibli movies. Disney movies. Random YouTube videos.”</p><p>	“What do you watch on YouTube?”</p><p>	“Oh, everything. National Geographic, conspiracy videos. Did you know elephant tusks are actually teeth?”</p><p>	“They are?” Minho stops walking. I turn to look at him. His face is screwed up in thought. “How does that work?”</p><p>	I laugh. It loosens the knot of tension in my sternum. I recite some more random facts as we continue our walk back to the dorm. With each one, I feel the tangle of stress unclench its claws. Minho laughs, or questions my logic, and I don’t notice we’ve already arrived back at the dorm.</p><p>	I yawn and plop down on my bed. It’s not too late, but I’m planning on maxing out my sleep as much as possible. </p><p>	Vaguely, I remember, as Minho heads into the bathroom for a shower, I need to write an essay tomorrow. I should probably write that down somewhere. </p><p>	I fumble for a pen, and when I can’t locate my pencil case, I reach for Minho’s black backpack tossed at the foot of his bed.</p><p>	“What are you doing?” Minho’s eyes gleam at me from the crack in the bathroom door.</p><p>	“Um— I need a pen.”</p><p>	“Don’t go in my bag.” Minho crosses to his desk and tosses me a hidden pencil.</p><p>	“Right. Sorry.” I jot a note down on a sticky note as Minho shuts the bathroom door. I glance over my shoulder at his backpack. </p><p>It stays in my mind as I roll over onto my bed and throw the covers up to my chin. But once I close my eyes, the only image that lingers behind my eyelids is the concern in Minho’s eyes as he wrapped me in his precious leather jacket.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Chan feels the water shift around him as he rides a different current. The ocean brings him deeper, carrying him down into the depths. </p><p>	Nothing more than a small current himself, he quickly arrives at the underwater home for ocean spirits. The massive bubble dome opens and closes around him. He lands on the ground on human feet.</p><p>	The home is more of a castle, really. A massive building for spirits all over the world to call home. It has no fixed location, existing just slightly on another plane of reality, allowing all spirits to easily arrive no matter where they’re coming from. But Chan isn’t here to return to his soft bed in his room off the Korean coast. </p><p>	No, today he’s here to meet the spirit he owes his life to.</p><p>	It was 112 years ago that Lee Sangyeon extended his hand towards Chan after he pulled his spirit from his faded body. <i> You’re being given a second chance. </i></p><p>	A second chance at life. A second chance to fulfill his purpose. </p><p>	Chan’s hand closes around the seashell handles of the Eastern entrance to the building. Purpose. Whatever that is.</p><p>	The domed spires stretch up towards the surface, nearly brushing the top of the bubble dome. Visiting spirits needed the bubble in place so they could have air, and so all spirits could assume their human forms. </p><p>	Although they aren’t entirely human. The bodies are more similar in theory, Chan muses, as he makes his way to Sangyeon’s office down the pink coral colored halls. They don’t share all the same functions as humans. </p><p>	Chan’s heart warms as he thinks of everything he’s learned from Felix. The human has taught him so much. Not just about humans, but about life. About living.</p><p>	Chan knocks on the door. “Come in, Channie!”</p><p>	Chan pokes his head inside. Sangyeon glances up from his desk. “How’d you know it was me?” </p><p>	Sangyeon grins. “No one else knocks.”</p><p>	Chan takes a seat on the other side of the desk. “So what did you want to talk about?” He’s itching to get back up to the surface. He knows it’s not smart— it’s not good for him to be out of the sea for so long, as it’s dangerous if he’s spotted with Felix. But the longer he stays away from the Australian boy the more he feels like he’s drowning, even though he can breathe underwater.</p><p>	“We have inspectors coming soon.”</p><p>	Chan pauses. “Inspectors?”</p><p>	“Yes. You know. The centennial checkup they perform on each spirit headquarters.” Sangyeon stacks papers on his desk and narrows his eyes at Chan. “Flame spirits had theirs last week. I heard it went well. We have two inspectors coming in the next few weeks.”</p><p>“And… um…” Chan’s starting to realize why he in particular was called in. “What will they be inspecting?”</p><p>	 “They’ll be making sure all the ocean spirits are doing their jobs, protecting the health of the ocean. Staying away from humans.” Sangyeon narrows his eyes at Chan. He gulps. “Once they poke around here, representatives from all spirit houses will gather— at our headquarters, since it’s our turn this century— and everyone will be examined together.” Sangyeon fiddles with his files. “You know what I’m going to say.”</p><p>“Stay away from humans.”</p><p>	“Stay away from humans. If the inspectors find out you’re involved with one, you can kiss your second life goodbye.” He gives Chan a hard look over the rim of his glasses. “I mean it. I have no say in the matter, I promise. There’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry.”</p><p>	Chan thinks of Minho, and how definitely wrong what he’s doing is. He has to protect the wind spirit as much as himself.</p><p>But he can’t stay away from Felix. He thanks Sangyeon and rises to leave the office. He turns to exit but stops when Sangyeon calls out to him. </p><p>“I know you’re not going to do what I say, so I’ll tell you this.” Chan turns back slightly. “Weigh your priorities. What’s important to you? Do whatever you can to protect it. Don’t just go along with what you think is right.” Sangyeon turns back to his work. “Because it might not be right for you.”</p><p>	Chan smiles, hand hesitating on the door. “Thanks, Sangyeon.”</p><p>	“Don’t mention it, kid.”</p><p>	Chan lets out a heavy sigh once the office door has closed behind him. He stands alone in the corridor for a moment, head hung as he contemplates his options.</p><p>It’s bad if he stays with Felix. Bad for both of them. He could lose his position as a spirit, which would leave him dead. And Felix… well, the inspectors wouldn’t be very happy with him. It’d be a lot of questioning and probably traumatic imprisonment.</p><p>The spirit rulers aren’t cruel, but they aren’t fond of meddling humans. Especially those with knowledge of spirits.</p><p>Chan thinks of Minho and the situation that caused him to be where he is. He hopes that this little experiment Minho is running now off in college pays off. Enough to give him the happiness he needs.</p><p>He <i> deserves, </i> Chan corrects himself. Speaking of happiness, he checks a clock hanging up on the wall. Half an hour until he meets up with Felix.</p><p>He’ll leave this dilemma out of their conversations, he decides. He doesn’t need Felix fretting over something out of his control.</p><p>There certainly won’t be consequences to pay later.  </p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	“You have to turn this into a study date?” Minho’s teasing tone makes me pause from where I’m pulling a binder from my bag. </p><p>	“Well, wasn’t that the point?” I gesture to the booths of the diner around us. Unable to stop my eyes from flicking around, wandering, searching. </p><p>	“No, I thought we drove an hour to come here because you wanted to see an old friend or something. And the study date was just an excuse.” Minho slurps at his milkshake knowingly. He raises his eyebrows to accentuate the point. </p><p>	“Uh. Well.”</p><p>	“We don’t actually have to talk about biology.”</p><p>	“Oh, thank God.” I stuff the binders away. A smile twitches at the corner of Minho’s mouth.</p><p>	“You know it’s okay for us to just hang out, right? We don’t need a reason.” Minho tosses an arm across the back of the booth, stretching his legs out leisurely. </p><p>	“We don’t?” But wouldn’t that mean we’re friends? Does Minho consider us friends?</p><p>	“Dude, I wouldn’t have let you drive me to a diner an hour away from campus if I didn’t think you were my friend,” Minho replies, making me wonder if he read my thoughts. Or if I’d just said it out loud.</p><p>	Okay, so that’s a huge relief. I actually have a friend at college. It’s confirmed. So why is my leg still shaking nervously, and my chest tightening with every passing minute? </p><p>	Oh, right. Because of the whole reason I dragged Minho to this diner with me in the first place.</p><p>	I’m not sure why I didn’t just come by myself. Probably because I can’t hold a proper conversation when I’m faced with 100% of Hwang Hyunjin’s attention focused all on me. Maybe I’m hoping Minho will third wheel his way into making it less awkward.</p><p>	The server comes back to take our order, and I’m still searching around the restaurant for a glimpse of honey gold hair. Then Minho’s eyes fix on something behind me, and I twist around in my seat. Ah. So that’s what drew his attention.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Jisung is floundering with the server, trying to finish their order, because Minho has stopped responding. “I’ll have the same,” he says finally, tossing their menus to the end of the table and flustering the server. Jisung’s head whips back and forth at the abrupt change in attitude.</p><p>	Minho knows just moments before he was preaching about how they’re friends, but now all he can hear is his heart thumping in his eardrums and his fight or flight instincts kicking in.</p><p>	His eyes are fixed on a server on the other side of the room, over Jisung’s shoulder. Long blonde hair tied into a low ponytail, cap shielding his face, but Minho still recognizes him. It’s hard to forget a face like that.</p><p>	He’s grown his hair out, bleached it blonde, and it looks <i> good, </i> Minho hates that he thinks. It really suits him. He looks so different, older than the Hyunjin that Minho used to know.</p><p>	His hands clench into fists. His nails bite into his palms. They just need to finish their food and get out of here before Jisung notices anything is off. He probably won’t come over. He probably won’t even recognize Minho. </p><p>	No. Wait. Why is he coming over? </p><p>	The devil incarnate, Hwang Hyunjin himself, has arrived at their table, and Jisung is staring up at him like he hung the moon and stars. </p><p>	“Hyunjin!” Jisung rockets out of his seat and flings his arms around Hyunjin’s shoulders. Hyunjin responds with an equally enthusiastic hug, but his eyes are fixed on Minho’s face. Expression openly shocked, frozen in confusion. </p><p>	Both of them thinking the same thing. </p><p>
  <i> What are you doing here? </i>
</p><p>	Minho clears his throat when Jisung sits down. “Our food’s going to be here soon,” he says pointedly to Jisung. </p><p>	“Oh, yeah, probably.” He’s still staring at Hyunjin with stars in his eyes. </p><p>	“Don’t you have work to do?” Minho directs the question at <i> him </i> without taking his eyes off Jisung. Sweet, dorky, painfully awkward Jisung, who is nothing like the boy standing to his right glancing between the two of them in confusion. </p><p>	“Yeah, I’ll— I’ll come back later.” Hyunjin shares a pink-tinged grin with Jisung, who is also flushed around the ears, and disappears back into the kitchen.</p><p>	Minho needs to act now. He can’t wait if Hyunjin is planning on coming back. He needs to think of something believable, and fast. </p><p>	He decides on something similar to the truth. A lie embellished on a truth is the most believable. </p><p>	Minho reaches across the table and grips Jisung’s sweater sleeve in his fingers. Jisung turns to look at him questioningly.</p><p>	“Can we leave?” Minho pitches his voice lower, breathy and barely in control. If his voice cracks, that just adds to the role.</p><p>	“Huh?” Jisung scrunches his brow in confusion. Oh, Minho hopes he’s smart enough to read Minho’s fake facade.</p><p>	“Please, I— I can’t be here with him.” Minho clenches his fist until his eyes water, the tears welling up beneath his eyelids. He forces himself to glance over at Hyunjin so Jisung will follow his gaze.</p><p>	“Him?” Jisung blinks slowly. “You mean Hyunjin?”</p><p>	Minho nods, fully in control but forcing his chest to contract and expand at a quicker rate than normal. “Can we please just leave? I’ll explain, I promise, but I can’t be here, I can’t see him, it’s too much—” He cuts off before he goes too far. Doesn’t want to dig himself into a hole here.</p><p>	“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Jisung seems to catch on, and even though he’s confused, he gathers his stuff and they rise to leave. Minho feels Hyunjin’s eyes on them as they make their way to the door. </p><p>	He shuffles his feet and keeps his head low for Jisung’s sake. He notices they didn’t pay, but he won’t say anything. The thought of Hyunjin using his employee benefits to pay for them fills him with glee.</p><p>	Once they’re settled into the car, Minho amps it up even more. He curls his legs up and tucks his chin in between his knees. 	</p><p>	“Are you okay?” Jisung is watching him with the same concern Minho showed the night of the party a few weeks ago, except this time is different because Minho doesn’t deserve that amount of concern. The thought makes his heart pang with guilt. </p><p>	Minho makes himself nod. Takes a shuddering breath, because the tears and the panicked breaths are making it hard to steady himself. “Yeah, yeah, just give me a second.” He recalibrates his thoughts, aligning the perfect story. How much to tell, how much to fabricate….</p><p>	“I’m sorry,” he decides to start with. “For pulling you out of there. I didn’t mean to make a scene and embarrass you or anything.”</p><p>	“No, no, it’s fine!” Jisung nods emphatically along with his words. “It’s fine. Really. I owe you one anyway.” </p><p>	Oh. Right. The party. </p><p>	Minho feels guilty again. This isn’t fair to Jisung.</p><p>	But, no. Wait. It is. Because he can’t let Jisung be close to Hyunjin. He won’t let that happen.</p><p>	“I know him,” Minho starts again. “Or, I used to.” True. “I met him two years ago. We had… a thing.” Also true. “And he—” Minho rubs at the tears dripping down his face. “He—”</p><p>	Jisung starts rubbing his back with one hand and making soothing noises like Minho is a bawling toddler. “It’s alright, it’s alright, take your time.”</p><p>	“You know how he dated that soccer player? The one that went to his school. Or your school, I guess, if you know each other.” </p><p>	“Kim Sunwoo. Yeah.” </p><p>	So Jisung knows Hyunjin from high school. Funny, how neither ever mentioned the other.</p><p>	“Yeah, him.” Minho sobs in a way that he hopes doesn’t sound terribly fake. In a way, it isn’t. “Well, when they started going out— or, not even going out, just doing stuff— well, he and I weren’t— we never—”</p><p>	“You hadn’t broken up?” Jisung is making this awfully easy. He’s a bit smarter than Minho predicted.</p><p>	“Yeah, you could—” Minho hiccups. “You could say that.” He wonders when he’s going to start lying.</p><p>	Jisung shakes his head. “But I knew him then. And I don’t remember him ever mentioning you or anything.” He grimaces. “Sorry…”</p><p>	Minho sniffles. “Well, we didn’t want to tell a lot of people. Because I’m a bit older, you know, I went to a different school.” Here come the lies. Flowing out faster and easier than Minho anticipated. “But I didn’t think that meant he’d go waltzing around with people from his school without telling me.”</p><p>	“It’s hard to think that he….” Jisung seems to need a push in the right direction. Minho is happy to oblige.</p><p>	“That’s not all,” Minho adds. “I wasn’t really sure how long we’d be together anyway. I mean… he was always so… has he ever seemed aggressive to you?”</p><p>	“Aggressive? Hyunjin?” Jisung laughs, then remembers the situation. “Uh, no. Sorry.”</p><p>	Okay, wrong tactic. “Well, I don’t know. I don’t know if it was his nature or just the situation or something I did, but—”</p><p>	“What?” Jisung sits forward. Oh, Minho’s got him on the edge of his seat now.</p><p>	“Well, he’d get really in his head and stop listening to me. And he’d stop listening to the word “no.” And… well, you know.”</p><p>	Jisung gasps. “You’re not saying—”</p><p>	Minho only shakes his head. He doesn’t even have to say.</p><p>	“I just— that doesn’t sound like him at all….”</p><p>	And that’s easy enough to dispute.</p><p>	“Well, of course you wouldn’t think so.” Minho raises his head, eases himself back into his seat a bit. The pity party is over. “You’re his friend. I’m sure it was just something I did, I probably deserved it—”</p><p>	There it is, the bait, dangling right in front of him, and Jisung snatches it up like a slice of his favorite cheesecake. “No, no, you can’t say that!” Jisung takes his hand with eyes wide and pleading. “No matter what he did, you didn’t deserve any of that. I’m sure it was something else.”</p><p>	“Like what? What would have caused him to— to act like that—”</p><p>	“I— I don’t know.” Jisung scratches head.</p><p>	“Can we head back, please?” They’re still sitting in the parking lot, and Minho is worried Hyunjin could walk out the door and see them sitting here and he does not want to see him again, no matter how good he looks as a blonde.</p><p>	“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Jisung starts the car and begins the drive back up to school. “I’m so sorry… I had no idea….”</p><p>	Minho wants to avoid Jisung feeling guilty. In fact, he wants to avoid Jisung feeling bad about anything, period.</p><p>	He wonders when he started to feel so strongly about this objective.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	I fiddle with my phone once we’re back in the dorm. Minho disappeared into the bathroom, probably to shower or wash his face or just have time to himself. It was so shocking to see a vulnerable side to him. And for Hyunjin, of all people, to bring it out….</p><p>	I glance down at my phone again when I see a text.</p><p>
  <i> hyunnie &lt;3:<br/>
next time u dine n dash can u at least let me know beforehand -_- </i>
</p><p>	Oh. Looks like we forgot to pay.</p><p>	<i> sorry, </i> I begin to type out. Then I backtrack. If he initiated it, then there’s no reason to hide. </p><p>
  <i> 	minho wanted us to leave </i>
</p><p>	He’s silent. I take it as a cue to continue.</p><p>	<i> he didnt want to see u </i></p><p>	Three little dots pop up in the corner. They disappear. Pop up again. I can picture Hyunjin in the back room of the diner, hunched over his phone, face scrunched up with his nose adorably crinkled— </p><p>	Right. Not the time.</p><p>	<i> how do u know him? </i></p><p>	I narrow my eyes. He is <i> not </i> in the position to be asking the questions here.</p><p>
  <i>	we go to school together </i>
</p><p>
  <i>	do u now<br/>
?? yes?? we do??</i>
</p><p>
  <i>	ok </i>
</p><p>	I don’t know why that’s the part Hyunjin’s fixating on. I shake my head and decide to press him.</p><p>	<i> he said a lot of stuff about u. </i></p><p>I wonder how much to divulge. Might as well just spill it all. See what he has to say for himself.<br/>
<i> u two were a thing?</i></p><p>
  <i>hardly. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>ok so yes</i>
</p><p>
  <i>i didnt say that</i>
</p><p>
  <i>yeah u just did </i>
</p><p>	I can practically see Hyunjin rolling his eyes. I grit my teeth.</p><p>	<i> he said u dated that soccer play guy before u broke up<br/>
and that u were aggressive and didnt listen to the word no or smth</i></p><p>
  <i>	that makes no sense</i>
</p><p>
  <i>idk u tell me</i>
</p><p>
  <i>	i just did </i>
</p><p>	I set down my phone in frustration. I’m not getting anywhere. Hyunjin’s just leading me around in circles.<br/>
<i> ur rly not doing a good job at clearing ur name u know</i></p><p>
  <i>	?? what am i supposed to say? i didnt do any of that<br/>
we werent even rly together</i>
</p><p>
  <i>yeah but did he know that<br/>
i mean he seems to think u were </i>
</p><p>
  <i>	idk thats not my problem </i>
</p><p>	Stunned, I push the device away. I feel like I’m seeing a different side to him. The accusations Minho brought up seemed too far from the Hyunjin I know to be real. But the way he’s reacting… Hyunjin wouldn’t be reacting this way if he was really innocent, right?</p><p>	I leave it at that. I know Minho won’t lead me around in circles. Right now, I could use a Disney movie and some cheap convenience store candy. </p><p>	I head out of the dorm while Minho’s still in the shower and come back before he’s out. I wonder if I should be concerned. He’s been in there a while.</p><p>	He emerges a few minutes later, while I have my computer booting up Treasure Planet.</p><p>	“What’s that?” He peers at my computer screen curiously. </p><p>	“Most underrated Disney movie ever.”</p><p>	He pauses. Looks at the bag of candy on my lap. “I’ve never seen it.”</p><p>	I hide my grin. I was hoping he’d say that. “Well, it’s not too late now.” I scoot over and pat the bed beside me. There’s hardly enough room for the two of us, but delightfully, Minho squishes in next to me. My shoulder is jammed up against the wall, but I hardly even notice. I also fail to take notice that Minho was in the bathroom for almost half an hour supposedly showering, but his hair isn’t even wet.</p><p>	Our hands romantically brush while reaching for Sourpatch Watermelon. I open my mouth to stutter an awkward apology, but Minho isn’t even paying attention. His eyes are glued to the screen. </p><p>	I forget about it and turn back to my laptop. I forget about Hyunjin, about the car ride, and about the diner. I inch closer to Minho and let our shoulders brush as the movie plays on.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	It’s like I see Minho in a different light now. He seems less distanced, less cool and aloof and more… human.</p><p>	Maybe it’s because we’re really friends now. There’s a warm fuzzy feeling I get when I think of that, but there’s also a part of me that hurts and thinks of Hyunjin.</p><p>	I come back from my lecture one day and he’s sprawled across his bed, scrolling through his phone. I throw myself down on top of him— he’s gotten a lot less stuffy about skinship— and peek over his shoulder.</p><p>	Immediately, he closes out and shuts off his phone.</p><p>	“Whatcha lookin at?”</p><p>	“None of your business, Han.”</p><p>	“Lemme see!” I make grabby hands for his phone and pout until he huffs and rolls his eyes. </p><p>	“Fine.” Minho switches his phone back on. “How old are you again? Five?”</p><p>	“Maybe.”</p><p>	Minho swipes open his photo gallery. I gasp. </p><p>	“These are my babies,” Minho says with a contradictory dry tone.</p><p>	“Kitties!” Three pairs of yellow eyes stare out at me from Minho’s phone. “Is that your house?” I squint at the picture, but I can’t tell much from the background. Two orange and white cats, one tortoiseshell, all snuggled up together in a round cat bed. </p><p>	“Yeah, sort of.” Minho pockets his phone. “But I couldn’t bring them here, so I substituted.” He pulls out an orange cat plushie from under the covers.</p><p>	I gape at him. “I didn’t know you had that!” I snatch up the stuffed animal despite his weak protests. “Our plushies could’ve been friends.” I bounce over to my bed to introduce Minho’s cat to my BT21 plushies.</p><p>	“Seriously?” Minho grumbles. He doesn’t seem that mad, though. A month ago, he definitely would have been. But not the Minho that’s my friend now.</p><p>	“Yeah! What, don’t be embarrassed about it.” I reach out to pinch his cheek as he settles down on my bed. “It’s cute.” </p><p>	To my surprise, he blushes. His ears pink and he averts his gaze awkwardly. Maybe he is embarrassed.</p><p>	“No, I mean it!” I tell him earnestly. “You don’t need to act cool, I know you’re not.” Minho sputters in protest. “You’re really cute, though.” And maybe I mean more than just the stuffed animal.</p><p>	Minho turns bright pink and doesn’t meet my eyes. “Okay.” </p><p>	Huh. Okay, so maybe it’s not the stuffed animal. I lean close to him until our faces are barely an inch apart.</p><p>	Minho yelps and jerks back. “The hell you think you’re doing?” His defenses are back up. I grin. </p><p>	“What’s got you so squirmy, hyung?” I wiggle my eyebrows. “Do I make you nervous?”</p><p>	“Fuck off.” He shoves me, and I flail in my attempts to stay on the bed.</p><p>	“Okay, okay, fine. Sorry, geez.” I rub my shoulder in pain. “Right in the bicep.”</p><p>	Minho rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right.” He reaches out to squeeze my arm to confirm his statement. He blinks. “Oh.” He squeezes my arm again. “That’s a surprise.” He retracts his hand looking redder than before.</p><p>	Minho clears his throat. “Listen, um…” I turn my attention back to him. Minho seems to be stumbling over his words. Huh. That’s weird. I’ve never seen him do something like that before. “I’ve been meaning to make up for that day at the diner a few days ago.”</p><p>	“Hm? What do you mean?” The way I see it, there’s nothing to make up for. With the way Hyunjin’s been acting— completely ignoring my attempts to contact him— I don’t see any loss that came out of it. </p><p>	“Well… it’s just that our date— I mean, our study date— kind of got cut short. So we should reschedule.” He grins at me nervously. “I’ll pay this time. Promise.”</p><p>	“Uh huh.” I arch an eyebrow as I lean in conspiratorially. “You <i> promise?” </i></p><p>	“Yeah.” Minho leans in as well. I wait for him to pull back again, but he doesn’t.</p><p>	So I do. “Well then.” I nestle back against my pillows. “Doesn’t sound too bad, then.”</p><p>	“Great.” Minho grins, fiddling with a loose thread in his jeans. “It’s a date.” He turns red again. “I mean, a day. Of the week. You know. Those.”</p><p>	“Yeah, those.” We stare at each other for a few more moments in silence. I’m wondering why the air suddenly seems so heavy, and why it feels so awkward.</p><p>	“Cool.” Minho moves back to his own bed. We go back to staring at our own devices. What the hell just happened? And why did it make my heart beat so crazy stupid fast?</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Minho finds himself at the beach again. This time, it’s not vacant when he arrives.</p><p>	He turns into a soft autumn breeze and swirls down atop a rock to listen to Felix and Chan’s conversation.</p><p>	His ocean spirit friend is cuddled up close to his human boyfriend, underneath piles of blankets and fuzzy fall jackets. They lean in close to each other while they talk, and Minho drifts close curiously.</p><p>	Chan’s head turns as he feels the breeze tickle the back of his neck, and he narrows his eyes like he suspects Minho’s there.</p><p>	But who can identify one little draft of wind amongst the vast atmosphere?</p><p>	They’re talking about something boring, like school. Felix goes to a community college and is studying marine biology and astronomy. He says Chan— or <i> Chris, whatever, that’s not even his real name— </i> inspired him to take up the former of the two tracks. </p><p>	“How are you liking it?” Chan asks, pulling Felix closer to him. Minho would roll his eyes if he currently had eyes. </p><p>	“Oh, it’s so interesting!” Felix gestures widely with his hands while he talks. “Like, just learning about the depth the ocean holds. It’s so fascinating just how vast all the life forms in it can be.”</p><p>	Minho decides to come back some other time— he can always talk to Chan some other day— but Felix’s next words make him hesitate.</p><p>	“It’s also really nice to gain a different perspective on nature in general.” Minho floats closer again. “It really makes you think about the impact your actions have on other forms of life, like animals or plants or anything. And I think having a connection to an ocean spirit like you really helped me find that!” He beams up at Chan.</p><p>	Minho almost turns back into his human form in shock. A human, thanking a spirit? Their perspective on nature, changed? But spirits aren’t meant to fraternize with humans because of their dangerous impact on nature. It puts them and their jobs in danger. </p><p>	<i> Hypocrite, </i> he thinks. <i> You go to college with one in order to test just that hypothesis. </i></p><p>	A hypothesis he wouldn’t even need to test if it weren’t for Hwang Hyunjin. </p><p>	The thought of that boy makes his blood boil. Thank God he’s been able to keep Jisung away from him.</p><p>	<i> Jisung. </i> He sees his human friend— because that’s what they are now, <i> friends— </i> in the way Felix’s eyes light up with excitement as he talks. The same light Minho sees in Jisung’s eyes whenever he talks about his stupid anime or something. The light Minho wants to keep glowing no matter what it takes.</p><p>	So he waits until Felix leaves and pounces on Chan, grabbing him by the shoulders with his solid human hands.</p><p>	Chan yelps and Minho slaps a hand over his mouth. He withdraws it slowly as the alarm in the ocean spirit’s eyes dies out. </p><p>	“So you love him,” Minho says eventually. </p><p>	“Well, yeah,” Chan says like he has no problem admitting such a thing. It frustrates Minho to no end. How he can so easily say <i> Yeah, I love him, </i> like it’s no big deal. </p><p>	“He really loves you,” Minho points out.</p><p>	“Yes, that’s generally how relationships work.” Chan quirks an eyebrow. 	</p><p>	“But— the inspectors, they’re going to investigate—” </p><p>	“I don’t care.” Chan smiles in bemusement. “I’ll do what I have to to keep him safe.” His eyes harden in determination to protect the boy he loves. Minho thinks of what the inspectors would do to Felix if they find out about his relationship. Then he thinks of them doing the same to Jisung.</p><p>	His eyes shift to become something probably very similar to Chan’s expression.</p><p>	“You seem troubled by this.” Chan sits beside him. A half century of friendship really lets you get into someone’s head.</p><p>	“I just… never thought it would really be possible for a human to love a spirit like that.” Minho trails his fingers over the sand beneath them. </p><p>	“Understandable, considering what you’ve experienced.” Chan rests his head on his knees. “But if you find the right person….”</p><p>	“I thought he was,” Minho says bitterly. “But I guess I was wrong.”</p><p>	“Hm, not necessarily.”</p><p>	“Huh?” Minho raises his head. “What do you mean?”</p><p>	“Well, are you over him?”</p><p>	“Over… Hyunjin?” Minho’s lip curls. “Obviously.”</p><p>	“I don’t think so.”</p><p>	“Well, fuck you, then.” </p><p>	“Hey, hey—” Chan grabs Minho’s sleeve as the wind spirit rises to leave. “Come on, don’t be like that.” He leans back, resting on his hands. “Think about it.”</p><p>	Minho doesn’t want to think about it. Doesn’t want to think about Hyunjin at all, actually. He only wants to think about Jisung, waiting for him in their dorm to watch whatever Disney or Studio Ghibli movie he’s itching to rewatch today. </p><p>	“Well, you definitely like <i> someone,” </i> Chan says decisively. </p><p>	“What makes you so sure?” Minho honestly wants to know, because he doesn’t even know himself.</p><p>	“I know you.” Chan smiles knowingly. “And I also know it doesn’t have to be just one someone.”</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	<i> It doesn’t have to be just one someone. </i> Minho mulls over Chan’s words. Is he over Hyunjin? For sure. Why else would he freak out so much after seeing him at the diner, needing to leave just to get away from him? Why else would he focus so much on the fact that he changed his hair, despite the fact that it looks good? Why else would he want to focus on Jisung so much?</p><p>	Oh. </p><p>	He’s really not, is he? He’s not over Hyunjin at all. </p><p>	But he definitely, Minho thinks, as he unlocks the door to his dorm and sees his roommate waiting for him, likes Jisung.</p><p>	So maybe he feels a little guilty about what he said about Hyunjin. But he still wants to stay away from him, and saying those things to Jisung seemed to do the trick.</p><p>	So right now, everything’s going good. </p><p>	Minho sits down on his bed and watches Jisung as he takes notes on a lecture. His tongue pokes out slightly as it does when he’s concentrating, cheeks stuffed full with kimbap as he munches on the leftovers. </p><p>	That’s another thing Minho’s noticed about him. He stores food in his cheeks as he eats, like a hamster. </p><p>“Quokka,” Jisung corrected him.</p><p>	“What the fuck is a quokka?”</p><p>	“Dunno, but it looks like me.”</p><p>	Minho looked up pictures of quokkas to affirm this point. And holy <i> shit, </i> he was right.</p><p>	Minho thinks about the way Jisung looked at Hyunjin that day in the diner, and compares it to the way he looks at Minho. Part of him wishes Jisung would look at him like he hung the moon and stars. </p><p>	He didn’t, though. All he’s done is lie. </p><p>	“Jisung,” Minho finds himself saying despite himself, because he has to ask, has to know. “Are you polyamorous?”</p><p>	Jisung glances at him and tugs out an earbud. He stares at Minho for several long moments as Minho’s heart pounds loud enough for them both to hear.</p><p>	“What’s that?” Jisung asks innocently. Minho lets out a breath. Well, this doesn’t necessarily mean <i> no. </i></p><p>	“It’s where you’re in a relationship with more than one person. And everyone’s attracted to each other.” Minho fidgets with his fingers. “Like, you like two people, and they both like you, but they also like each other.”</p><p>	Jisung scrunches his face up as he thinks. “So, like a love triangle, but you get to pick both.”</p><p>	Minho grins. “Yeah, I guess so.”</p><p>	“Well, I’ve never really thought about it.” Minho feels his heart warm as he notes Jisung trying to take this seriously. “But I guess it depends on if I ever met two people I really liked.” He stares down at his notes. “Well, actually….”</p><p>	Minho leans forward, waiting for him to finish the thought. But Jisung just shakes his head and goes back to his lecture.</p><p>	He’s a little disappointed, to be honest. Sure, Jisung seems like he might be, but he gave no clues that he’s actually interested in more than one person. Minho might just be setting himself up for disappointment. </p><p>	Besides, he thinks, it’s not like he’s ever actually going to see Hyunjin again.</p><p>	As soon as he gets his answer, he’s out of here. He’s not going to stay around Jisung any longer than necessary. It’s only going to get him hurt.	</p><p>	So no matter what happens, he’s leaving. He won’t have a repeat of last time.</p><p>	Never again.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	I think over Minho’s words as I’m supposed to be listening to my lecture. The sounds filtering through my earbuds turn to white noise. </p><p>	More than one person… well, I like Hyunjin, obviously. Although he’s a little in the gray area right now.</p><p>	And Minho… well, we’ve become close, that’s for sure. And he gets awfully flustered whenever I pretend to flirt. It’s cute. It’s fun. I <i> am </i> pretending, right?</p><p>	Suddenly, I’m not so sure. Because Minho’s got me thinking about what it’d be like ending up with either of them. I feel like I’m in my own romance novel and now I have to choose my love interest.</p><p>	How strange, I don’t even really have a chance with either of them, but now I’m weighing my options to see which one I’d want more. As if I’ll ever even have them.</p><p>	Hyunjin’s my best friend. Curiously suspicious scandal aside, I love him in more ways than one. We used to hate each other, and now it’s hard to be away from him. Being with him, whether as a friend or even romantically, is something I want more than anything else. Sure, he’s cuddly and clingy, but he’s like that with everyone. What I would give to see him being cuddly with Seungmin only to have the satisfaction that I’m the one he’d rather have.</p><p>	Being with Minho would be easy. I’ve been living with him for the past month and a half already. I know his sleeping habits, I know his favorite snacks, I know he likes to give commentaries on the movies he watches. I know the names of his cats (Soonie, Doongie, and Dori) and that he’s an only child despite always wanting a brother. I know he yells when he’s embarrassed and gets flushed when he’s angry, instead of the other way around. </p><p>	Then I wonder about what he just asked me about, and I think about the both of them. Complicated history aside, it’d be nice not to choose. I know I like Hyunjin. But I think I like Minho too. And maybe I’d be happy with either of them, but I think I’d be happiest with both.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Two inspectors arrive at the ocean spirit home a day later.</p><p>	They’re dressed in long white coats, sharp white suits and carry brown briefcases with them. </p><p>	Neither look particularly threatening, but their eyes are sharp. One is tall, with mousy blonde hair and a round, soft looking face. The other won’t stop smiling, but it looks wrong with his eyes cutting fiercely through the room. </p><p>	Chanhee and Changmin, they introduce themselves. Here to make sure everything’s in order. Not a reason to get nervous, unless you’ve got something to hide! Hahaha. Accentuated with laughter just to put everyone even more on edge. </p><p>	Looks like everything’s up to code at the ocean headquarters, so now they’ll just need to make sure everyone’s been behaving themselves. They’d love to meet more spirits, they say, so they’ve invited some wind, flame, and earth spirits down to join everyone.</p><p>Ocean ambassadors create bubbles to help lift the non-water compatible spirits down to the ocean headquarters. Chan finds Minho outside the main hall entrance.</p><p>“Have you been subtle lately?” Chan hisses.</p><p>“Nope,” Minho says, popping the p. “Have you?”</p><p>“Not a chance.”</p><p>Both stand with their backs straight, lined up in their respective areas. Flame spirits are given a pass. So are earth spirits, although one certain boy gets a thorough search. Minho gulps. </p><p>“When was the last time you were in human form?” One of the inspectors quizzes the earth spirit.</p><p>“Last month, Inspector.”</p><p>“For what purpose?”</p><p>“No purpose, just wanted to.”</p><p>“And how long were you in this form?” </p><p>“Only a couple hours.” The boy’s narrow eyes hold no panic, as he smiles lazily up at the inspectors. Something about him tugs at Minho’s memory.</p><p>“Did you come into any contact with humans during that time?”</p><p>	“Most likely. It’s hard to avoid them these days, isn’t it?”</p><p>The inspector awards him a begrudging smile. “Alright.” He moves on.</p><p>If that boy was telling the truth, and it was a whole month ago— and they could still smell human on him— then that doesn’t spell well for Minho. He’s got to be lying. He has to be.</p><p>The inspectors stop in front of the ocean spirits next. Minho’s heart sets off like a jack rabbit. Chanhee stops in front of Chan, eyes lingering on his face for longer than the others. Minho feels a drop of sweat trace its way down his back. He clenches his fists. </p><p>But they don’t stop to question him. Instead, they continue on to the wind spirits. </p><p>Minho stares straight ahead, eyes fixed to the opposite wall. The ocean spirit home’s got great architecture, he’ll give them that. Smooth marble, carved coral. It’s been a while since he visited the wind spirit headquarters. He just never really got along with anyone there enough to call it home.</p><p>The other inspector stops in front of him. “When was the last time you were in human form?” Changmin asks him. Minho gulps. He does not have a cover story.</p><p>Luckily, he’s good at thinking on his feet.</p><p>“Last week.” </p><p>The inspector arches an eyebrow. “For what purpose?”</p><p>“I was hungry.” A spirit beside Minho snickers. Spirits don’t really <i> get hungry. </i></p><p>“I see.” The inspector makes a disapproving note on his clipboard. “How long were you in this form?”</p><p>“Oh, on and off.” Add more details to make it believable, but not too many that it seems like too much. “No more than a day all together.”</p><p>“Hm.” The inspector examines him. “And did you come into contact with humans?”</p><p>	Minho does his best to keep his face passive. “I did my best not to.” Lets a lazy grin slide across his face. “Who would <i> want </i> to?”</p><p>The inspector doesn’t smile like he did for the earth spirit. He makes another note and moves away. Leans in to his friend’s ear and whispers with him for a few minutes. </p><p>The first inspector straightens up and addresses everyone. “Most of you did very good this century.” He crosses his arms and stares at them with a cold gaze. “I’m aware many of you are young and this is your first inspection. But we will not be lenient. The rules about humans are in place for a reason.” He levels his gaze at Chan.</p><p>“There are some of you, whether we spoke to you or not, that need to be very, very, careful.” Now he’s looking at Minho. “I’d be careful where you spread your lies.”</p><p>Minho swallows. That seems like all he’s been doing lately. Lie, lie, lie. To Hyunjin, to Jisung, to the inspector. </p><p><i> Jisung. </i> He’s in danger now. The inspectors will be keeping an eye on him, he knows it. And being around Jisung won’t be good for either of them. </p><p>But that doesn’t stop him from flying off towards the campus the moment his transportation bubble breaks the surface.</p><p>Some habits are hard to break. </p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>I don’t realize it’s been 40 minutes until an alarm goes off on my phone signalling I need to get ready for my next class. 40 minutes of me sitting and staring at my phone blankly, not moving.</p><p>Thinking about Hyunjin, thinking about Minho, thinking about what happened with them. I think about the fun times we had together in high school and how far away they seem now.</p><p>Before senior year, I could never have imagined Hyunjin and I falling out of touch. Even though I was going off to college and Hyunjin was staying behind, I figured we’d be meeting up every weekend to catch up. I’d plan all these amazing dates and on one of them, maybe, just maybe, I’d work up the courage to tell him about my feelings.</p><p>I feel like I’ve plunged off a cliff and I’m still falling. I haven’t hit the bottom, there’s no hope of climbing back out. I’m perpetually falling with no end in sight. I don’t know who to believe and I don’t know how to believe in myself.</p><p>I double over on my bed, pressing my forehead against the comforter and taking a deep breath. It doesn’t smell like home. Nothing here does.</p><p>And now it’s wet, because there are tears leaking out of my eyes that pool onto the blanket where I rest my head. I take big, shuddering breaths as it becomes harder and harder to breathe. But my lungs aren’t mine to control anymore. </p><p>I’m frozen in place, unable to move, as my breathing quickens and I struggle to gasp for air. I should sit up, get somewhere where I can calm myself down, but I can’t move, can’t do anything but sob and struggle to <i> breathe. </i></p><p>I manage to drag myself onto the floor, where I sit with my back to the desk and curl into a tight ball. Head tucked between my knees, I try to suck air in through my mouth but end up choking on it instead. If only I had my meds. I’m not even sure I’d have the strength to get up and take them if I did, though.</p><p>At least, I think with a small pinprick of comfort, I’m alone in my dorm. There are worse situations to be in at this moment. In class, or outside in a public place, or anywhere that isn’t just me by myself. I’ll get a handle on this, I think even though my thoughts are still a panicked flurry that I’m struggling to grasp. I’ll manage this I’ll be fine I can do this on my own. It’s good I’m here by myself, at least there’s no one else here to see me like this. </p><p>The sound of a key turning in a lock breaks through my flurry of thoughts. The door cracks open, and I’m still huddled on the ground unable to breathe, unable to think straight. Why now?</p><p>I wait for Minho to turn around and leave again, to come over and poke me and make fun of me for being a mess.</p><p>Instead, I hear very soft footsteps and can see, just out of the corner of my eye, him kneeling down beside me. </p><p>“Jisung?” His voice is quieter than I’ve ever heard it. “You can hear me, right?”</p><p>I can only nod in response. </p><p>“Can I touch you?”</p><p>I shake my head. No, no, no, stay away, please, no one can do anything to help me, I’ve always gotten through this on my own, don’t make this harder for me—</p><p>“What can I do for you?”</p><p>I can’t exactly talk at the moment, but there’s something so shocking about his asking so softly and patiently that gives me the strength to take one great, deep, shuddering breath and make air come flooding back into my lungs. </p><p>“Just—”</p><p>Minho leans in closer, his aura of calm flowing over me. </p><p>“Talk.”</p><p>“Okay.” Minho sits down next to me, wedged in next to his bed as he tries not to touch me. “Well, I’m glad I came home when I did.” I’m not expecting to hear that, and it makes my chest contractions stall for a moment. “I wouldn’t want you going through this on your own.”</p><p>But I’ve always dealt with this on my own. He doesn’t understand that I’ve never needed anyone else’s help. I never have, so it won’t help me now.</p><p>“I want to help you,” Minho continues. “However I can. So if you can, you just let me know what you need.”</p><p>He says it so simply, so easily. I don’t get it. I think about why he might be doing this. I think about it, and the swirl of my thoughts eases to a slower pace. I think, and as I think, my head clears. I take deep breaths to get my lungs under control. Slowly, I ease the rate of my breathing.</p><p>“That’s it,” Minho says encouragingly. “You’re okay. I’m here.”</p><p>
  <i> I’m here. </i>
</p><p>Who’s ever said that to me before? No one. </p><p>Suddenly, I’m glad he’s here. I’m glad I didn’t have to go through it alone. He kept me grounded. </p><p>Minho vanishes from beside me, and I raise my head slightly to see where he’s gone. A box of tissues and a water bottle are being handed to me a moment later.</p><p>“Oh,” I say, sniffling. “Thanks.”</p><p>He rests a hand on my forehead. I freeze. “You’re a little feverish,” Minho says with a frown. He goes into the bathroom and comes back with a damp towel. “Here, come sit on the bed.” </p><p>I lie back against my pillows and Minho leans over me like a nurse. He lays the towel across my forehead and arranges my blankets around me like I’m a hospital patient and not a stupid college kid who just had a panic attack. </p><p>His hands linger by mine. “Is there anything else you need?” His eyes are wide. I’ve never seen him like this.</p><p>I clear my throat. “Hyung, I’m fine, really.” I choke out a laugh. “It happens all the time.”</p><p>“It does?” Minho’s eyes become even wider. “I’ve never seen you like this before, though.” </p><p>	“Yeah, well—” I go to sit up, and he immediately lunges forward to help me. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal.”</p><p>“Okay.” Minho sits back. He fidgets and looks awkward all of a sudden. “I didn’t like seeing you like that, though.”</p><p>I blink. “Yeah, I bet it freaked you out, huh.” I chuckle darkly and look away. How disappointing for him, that someone he thought was his friend turned out to be an anxiety-ridden loser who can’t handle his own emotions. </p><p>“Of course it did. What, you thought I wouldn’t worry over you or something?” I blink at him in confusion while he scratches his head. “I promise I’m not looking down on you or anything. I was just worried about you. That’s all.”</p><p><i> That’s all. </i> I wonder if I believe him. Worried about me? Why?</p><p>Minho’s still sitting on the edge of my bed, and he glances out the window to where it’s getting dark.</p><p>“I missed my evening lecture,” I realize. Minho shrugs.</p><p>“Oh well. Wanna watch a movie?” He grins. I match his smile with one of my own, just a little smaller and weaker.</p><p>“Sure.” We settle on Frozen 2 and I sing along while Minho flounders with the words.</p><p>I allow him to sit closer than before. We balance my laptop between us and I settle back against my pillows, head resting lightly against Minho’s shoulder.</p><p>“Thank you for before,” I say during a quiet stretch in the movie. Sure, Anna’s grieving over Olaf, but who cares, he was annoying anyway. “It really helped.”</p><p>	“Oh.” I feel Minho shift under my head. “I didn’t think I really did much.”</p><p>“No, you did. Just having you there was really helpful.” It was. More than I thought it was. If only I’d had someone there all the other times.</p><p>But I have him now.</p><p>I feel like I can fall asleep against Minho’s shoulder, but that’d be a little awkward, so I sit up to push my laptop away once the movie’s over. </p><p>“So,” I say awkwardly, because we’re both still lying in my bed under the covers with no real excuse as to why. </p><p>“Are you feeling better?” Minho asks, somehow leaning closer even though there was barely any space between us to begin with. </p><p>“Yeah.” The close proximity doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It’s warm, and I feel like I’m wrapped in a little cocoon. Though why Minho would want to be so close to me is beyond me.</p><p>Minho grins. “Okay. Good.” He squishes one of my cheeks. </p><p>“Hey!” I protest weakly.</p><p>“What?” Minho asks innocently. </p><p>“I’m not one of your plushies—”</p><p>He reaches out and squishes my face between his palms. “Then why are you squishy like them, huh?” He leans closer until our noses are barely an inch apart. “And why are you so cute like one?”</p><p>	“Hrrmmffl,” I say in response.</p><p>“Oh. Sorry.” He releases my face but doesn’t move back.</p><p>“Thank you,” I say again, because I’m not really sure what else he wants from me. He’s stayed in my bed just a little longer than is socially acceptable for a couple of bros.</p><p>“I’m just glad you’re okay.” He places his hand over mine. It makes my heart speed up, and for a moment I’m scared my anxiety is acting up again. I can’t think of another reason I’d be getting like this right now. “I’m here for you if anything like that ever happens again, okay?” His eyes are earnest, but serious. The tips of our noses brush as he leans in again.</p><p>“Okay,” I squeak, because I can no longer form full words. <i> Pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy— </i></p><p>My brain decides to remind me that Minho is very attractive and is purposefully squashing his face right up next to mine. I only have a moment to wonder why I, of all people, am getting this honor, before my brain registers something else.</p><p>There’s someone else’s mouth on top of mine.</p><p><i> Huh, </i> I think. <i> That’s a pretty weird place for a mouth. </i></p><p>Oh. <i> Oh. </i> Minho’s <i> kissing me. </i></p><p>Well, sue me for being slow on the uptake. This is the first time this has happened to me, okay?</p><p>“Sorry,” Minho says once he pulls back. “I shouldn’t have— That was really stupid of me— Of course you’re not— Of course you don’t—” </p><p>“N-no, it’s fine!” I reassure him, because aside from being startling, it wasn’t that unwelcome. “Really, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting it.”</p><p>“You’re not mad?” Minho confirms.</p><p>“No, of course not!” I turn my face away. “I just don’t really understand.”</p><p>“Understand what?” Minho leans in again and I scoot away. </p><p>“Why you… like me, I guess.” I fold my arms across my knees and curl myself up again.</p><p>Minho tips his head like he doesn’t understand the question. “Why not you?” He purses his lips as he mulls over his thoughts. “You’re cute and funny and dorky and you—” He cuts himself off. Like he’s holding something back. “I can’t really put it all into words. But.” He looks down at his fingers as he plays with them. “I just really like you. I can’t say why, exactly.” It seems more like a <i> won’t </i> than a <i> can’t, </i> but I won’t push him. </p><p>“Oh.” I peek up from where my face is hidden behind my arms. Minho sees me peeking at him and a smile spreads across his face. “I like you too.” And he just confirmed it for me.</p><p>“Really?” Minho’s eyes shine with excitement. It makes me raise my head up a little bit more.</p><p>“Yeah, I— I do.” </p><p>“Okay. Great. That’s great.” Minho fidgets with one of my pillows. “You should— probably get some sleep. I bet you’re tired.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Then an idea pops into my head. “You should, too.” I stretch my arms over my head and yawn, making Minho yawn as well. “But your bed is <i> so far away.” </i></p><p>Minho glances over at his bed, four whole feet away.</p><p>“Uh, yeah,” he replies.</p><p>“Well, guess you’ll just have to stay here, then.” I burrow under the covers and yank him down with me. </p><p>“Oh. Okay.” Minho’s head lands on the pillow next to me. He scoots over as far as he can without falling off the bed. It’s a tight fit, but I roll over with my back to the wall to give him more space. </p><p>It’s new. It’s weird. It’s different.</p><p>But I can’t say I don’t like it.</p><p>I fall asleep to the cadence of Minho’s soft breathing, the knowledge that he’s right there beside me washing over me in a blanket as soft as the one he placed over me.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>I can’t find my roomkey. I woke up this morning to an empty bed— I guess Minho had class— but now I can’t find my roomkey, and I’m locked out of my room. Great. I have all this laundry I have to take back with me, and all I want to do is burrow under my covers and wait for Minho to come back so we can— well, I don’t know. Do something. Maybe talk. Maybe he can kiss me again and I’ll do something other than sit there and stare in shock.</p><p>My heart leaps. I’m feeling giddy at the thought of having someone who <i> likes </i> me. I like him and he likes me <i> back. </i></p><p>I’m having no luck finding my roomkey, so I head up to administration to get a spare. </p><p>The woman working behind the desk gives me a sympathetic glance as she sees me toting all my laundry. </p><p>“I lost my roomkey,” I lament to her.</p><p>She clicks her tongue. “I’ll need your student ID, then.” </p><p>I pull it out of my wallet— it’s a hassle with a basket of laundry tucked under one arm, but I manage— and she looks me up.</p><p>“Oh, Han Jisung!” She gives me a sympathetic look. I raise my eyebrow. “Sorry about all the dorm hassle you must have gone through earlier this semester.” She begins to hunt through the drawers in her desk for the spare keys.</p><p>“Dorm hassle?” I echo in confusion. </p><p>“Yes, don’t you remember? There was a drop out at the last minute and your dorm was switched. Looks like you’re in the correct one, though, so I guess you found it okay.”</p><p>	I vaguely remember getting an email, but aside from skimming it to find the new dorm number, I don’t remember any of the contents. </p><p>“That’s why you have a single,” she explains to me as she hands me the key. I freeze, hand outstretched. </p><p>	“A what?” </p><p>“A single!” The lady says cheerily as she turns away. “So there aren’t any other students assigned to your room.” </p><p>I feel a bead of sweat slip down the back of my neck. “Huh.”	</p><p>She blinks at me, probably wondering if I’m stupid. “It’s why you don’t have a roommate.”</p><p>	Why I don’t have a roommate. Right. Of course. </p><p>“Yeah,” I say. “Right. Thanks.” I turn on my heel and head back to my room. What the fuck was that?</p><p>	The lady’s information must be wrong. Or she got me confused with someone else. But, no, the key fits into my dorm room. She must have gotten confused, then. </p><p>Because if I don’t have a roommate, then who the hell have I been living with the past two months?</p><p>	Minho’s still gone when I get back. Good. I don’t know how I could face him right now. Is he really not my roommate? Maybe he got switched around too. Yeah, that’s it. I mean, what other explanation is there for this situation?</p><p>	The door cracks open behind me. I spin and drop my laundry as Minho pops his head into the room. “Good morning!” Dressed in a gray sweater with a set of wire rim glasses perched on his nose, Minho is carrying two cups of coffee with a plastic bag hooked over one arm. “I went out to get us some breakfast. I got you cheesecake!” His grin dies when he sees the alarmed look on my face. “You… do like cheesecake, right? I thought that was your favorite.” He peeks into the bag. “I can take it back and get something else if you want….” He shifts hesitantly. “Jisung? Are you okay?”</p><p>	I shake my head. “I’m fine.” I grin back at him. “Thanks. I love cheesecake!” I think about telling him what the woman in administration told me. He’d probably laugh it off and tell me he was switched around too, there’s an error in the database, that’s why. But something makes me keep it to myself.</p><p>	“Oh, shit.” Minho peeks into the bag as he removes my cheesecake. “I asked them for forks for this and they forgot.” He sighs and grabs his keys again. “I’ll be right back!” He’s out the door again in an instant. </p><p>	I stand alone in the dorm again. What do I do now? </p><p>	I turn to face the pile of laundry on my bed when something catches my eye. Minho’s black backpack that he once warned me not to touch. Curiously, I wander over and pick it up.</p><p>	I reach in and pull out a black binder. Probably school work. I toss it aside. </p><p>	There’s nothing else in his bag except his cat plushie, a pencil pouch— I <i> knew </i> he had a spare pen— and an extra phone charger. </p><p>	I turn back to the black binder.</p><p>	Bored, I flip it open, ready to be faced with pages of history notes or math problems. What I see makes me freeze with the pages in my hands. I let out a strangled gasp and drop the binder.</p><p>	My own face stares back at me. And not in a drawing, like he doodled pictures of me while I slept. </p><p>	It’s my senior picture, right there next to my college applications, my high school report cards, and my letters of rec.</p><p>	There are notes alright, but they’re not on the Roman Empire. Minho’s jotted things down like <i> Han Jisung — Sept. 14, 2000. 5’6”. XX College, Year 1. </i> He’s got my enrollment date, my dorm number, and information on how to get into the administration system no one but that lady working the desk should have. </p><p>	He’s got pages on the things I like, my family, where I’m from, my time in Malaysia. How could he possibly know all this?</p><p>	I drop the pages. They flutter out of my trembling fingers’ grasp. I feel sick. Minho’s a <i> stalker. </i></p><p>	Somehow, he got all this information on me, followed me up here, and has been pretending to be my roommate. For what? To get close to me? I feel nauseous. I let him <i> kiss me. </i></p><p>	I’m standing there, pondering over what to do, when I hear the lock turn again. My heart leaps into my throat. Minho’s back. </p><p>	I scramble to stuff the papers back into the binder and shove it into his backpack just as the door opens again. </p><p>	“Got em!” Minho declares in triumph, holding up the forks. “So you wanna split it, or—” He falters as he sees me standing over his bag. I shoot a glance down out of the corner of my eye. Shit. </p><p>	I forgot to zip it closed and the corner of the binder is sticking out.</p><p>	“Oh.” Minho sets the forks down next to the bag slowly. “I asked you not to touch my bag.” </p><p>	I force out a laugh. “Yeah, I know, sorry, I needed an extra pencil—”</p><p>	I scramble out of his way. Minho comes to stand over the backpack. His gaze is terrifying in the depth of its calm.</p><p>	“Jisung,” Minho says slowly. He turns to face me. “Did you open this binder?”</p><p>	Chills shoot down my spine. I gulp.</p><p>	“Uh— what? No, what would I want with your boring school work, anyway?” I force out another laugh and inch towards the door. I need to get out of here. </p><p>	“If you saw what’s—”</p><p>	“I didn’t! I didn’t see anything!” I’m laughing hysterically now. “Promise!”</p><p>	“Let me just talk to you—”</p><p>	“Actually, I’ve gotta dip, sorry, I left my laundry, um—” My eyes dart down to where my laundry is sitting on my bed. “There’s… more… laundry….”</p><p>	“You can’t leave.” Minho’s eyes start to look panicked. He’s nowhere near the door— I could definitely make a break for it— but the desperation in his eyes stalls me. “Please, let me just talk to you.”</p><p>	“Oh yeah? And what are you gonna say?” Any threat forgotten, I lose my temper at him. What the hell could he possibly have to say for himself? “Go ahead. I’d like to see you try.”</p><p>	“Thank you.” Minho sits down on the edge of his bed and looks expectantly at me. Slowly, I sink down onto the corner of mine. I turn my head away from him and watch him from the corner of my eye. Ready to bolt at any moment. </p><p>	“I’m sorry for using you like this,” Minho says after a moment. “I— well, I don’t really know how to explain it. But I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”</p><p>	“Expect <i> what </i> to turn out like this?” I snap, whipping towards him. Minho flinches back like <i> I’m </i> the scary one here.</p><p>	“My, um, experiment.”</p><p>	“Experiment on what? Whether you can trick a stupid, gullible kid into liking you back or something?” I dig my nails into my palms. Deep, steady breaths. Don’t lose control.</p><p>	“I know there were probably better ways,” Minho continues as if I hadn’t said anything. “But… I don’t know, this seems easiest.” He takes a deep breath. “First, I’m sorry. I switched your room around so you’d have a single. I had to make sure I could end up with you.”</p><p>	“Huh?” So that explained all the hacking information he had. “Why?”</p><p>	“Well….” Minho shifted. “I’m getting to that. It was— God, this is so hard.” He takes a deep breath. I almost want to lean forward and comfort him, the same way he did with me. The thought makes anger bubble inside me once more. Did he even mean any of that?</p><p>	“I was curious. Because of Felix—”</p><p>	“What about Felix?” I shoot to my feet suddenly. “Is he part of this? What did you do to him?”</p><p>	“Nothing, Jesus!” Minho holds up his hands. “Would you just let me finish? This is hard enough as it is!” </p><p>	“Right. Sorry.” I sit back down. I really shouldn’t be apologizing. But clearly, there’s something he needs to get off his chest.</p><p>	“I… wanted to use you… as a way to understand humans more. I thought if I came here, and pretended to be your roommate, I could understand more about humans and their feelings and stuff like that.” </p><p>	“....humans?” I say slowly. Minho nods. “What… do you mean by that?” </p><p>	I edge away from him. Is he <i> crazy </i> on top of being a stalker?</p><p>	Wait. Something pops into my head.</p><p>	“You’re like Chris.” Minho turns to look at me. “Aren’t you? Felix’s boyfriend.”</p><p>	“Who?”</p><p>	I blink. Maybe not.</p><p>	“Oh.” Minho laughs. “You mean Chan.” He smiles softly. “Kind of. He’s an ocean spirit. I’m not quite like him.” He poses his hands on top of each other, leaving an area of space in between. A spiral current appears between them, and as he moves his hands, the wind follows.</p><p>	My jaw drops. “You’re an <i> airbender.” </i></p><p>	Minho wrinkles his nose. “A what?”</p><p>	“You haven’t seen— oh, of course you haven’t.” Now I’m itching to binge the whole series with him, but he hasn’t exactly redeemed himself yet. </p><p>	“I’m a wind spirit,” Minho explains. </p><p>	“Oh.” I frown. “But I don’t really have a special relationship with air, I don’t think?”</p><p>	Minho huffs. “Right, you know Chan. Well, we’re not as pretentious as those types. The whole <i> only those with a special connection to the ocean can see us. </i> We don’t get VIP friends, you know why? Because everyone has a special connection to the air. You know why? Because <i> everyone fucking breathes!” </i></p><p>	Minho clearly has spent a long time with pent up anger about this. I resist the urge to pat his hair soothingly. </p><p>	“So… why me, then?” I ask.</p><p>	“Well, you’re Felix’s friend. It seemed easy.” Minho glances away. “Also, yurreellycyu...” The last part is mumbled and I can’t hear it.</p><p>	“Huh?” I lean forward. He blushes and glances down at his feet. </p><p>“I thought you were really cute.”</p><p>	“Oh.” </p><p>	Well, maybe… I guess I can forgive him. He’s not crazy, but I’m still pretty unnerved by the amount of stalking he had to do. </p><p>	“I’ve liked a human before, but it… didn’t end well.” Minho hugs his knees to his chest. “Your friend Hyunjin.”</p><p>	I blink. “Oh, right. You said he….” I swallow thickly. Thinking of Hyunjin is painful right now. “Did… stuff… to you?”</p><p>	Minho’s ears flush a deeper red. “Not all of that was true, exactly.”</p><p>	I still. “Huh?”</p><p>	“I met him two years ago, when he was still in high school. It was my first time talking to a human. How exciting, I thought! I had no idea how you people worked. I talked to him, I liked him, so he’s <i> mine, </i> I thought. I told him who I was. I told him the truth about everything. Then he went and dated that soccer player. So… I thought, wow, humans are so <i> selfish. </i> He went and stabbed me in the back like that.” He glances up at me nervously. “But no, we were never actually together.” He kicks his feet as he looks back at the ground. “Also, we didn’t even do anything. He was a minor, it’s not like we <i> could.” </i></p><p>	I freeze. “You mean you <i> made all that shit up?” </i> My nails bite into my palms, deep. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”</p><p>	“I just— he knows who I am, it was dangerous. Being near him would put him in danger, and I wanted to keep you away from him, because it’s like— he’s my past, and you’re my present, so— I didn’t want to associate you with him—”</p><p>	“But <i> I’m </i> not yours <i> either.” </i> I stand up and back towards the door. “What else did you lie about, huh? Do you even really like me?”</p><p>	“Of course I do!” Minho stands too, and I back away more. “Besides that, I haven’t lied to you about anything. I kept stuff from you, sure, but I haven’t lied to you about anything else. I really do care about you—”</p><p>	“I don’t think you do, though.” My fingers close around my keys, already plotting out the path from here to my car. The drive down to see Hyunjin. To fix things. To make everything right. “If you did, you wouldn’t have done <i> half </i> the shit you did.” I turn to the door. Suddenly, Minho is grabbing my wrist.</p><p>	“No, you can’t leave,” Minho says frantically. “You’ve got a target painted on your back, it’s dangerous to go out by yourself—”</p><p>	“What the <i> fuck </i> are you talking about?” I shake my head. If he was confusing before, he’s talking absolute nonsense now. </p><p>	“I’ve put you in danger by being around you, but if I leave you now, it’s even more dangerous, so please, just stay here. I know you don’t want to, but it’s safer—”</p><p>	“I don’t think <i> you </i> should be talking about what’s <i> safer.” </i> I break out of his grasp and make a break for the door. I’m running full out, careening past startled freshmen and leaping down the stairs in one go. </p><p>	I sprint towards my car. I can see it in front of me, halfway across the parking lot, coming closer and closer. Then the wind picks up, and my pace slows down. I’m still running fast as I can, but the wind begins to spiral around me, keeping me in place. I feel irritated. If this is Minho’s doing somehow—</p><p>	A pair of unfamiliar voices echo close to my ear, and I twist in place, buffeted by the wind, but there’s no one there. </p><p>	“One of the humans has been located. Bringing them in for questioning.”</p><p>	“Huh?” The wind whips faster and faster until I can no longer make out my surroundings, just the swirling currents of air. It makes it difficult to suck air into my lungs, stealing the very oxygen from my breaths until my lungs are empty.</p><p>	With no air to breathe, my vision goes black and the world vanishes from my senses. </p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Chan doesn’t have a phone. </p><p>	He doesn’t, so it’s impossible to reach him unless you confront him in person. Which is why, emerging from the Italian restaurant he’d just spend the night at with Felix, he is accosted by a rather fussy gale of cold autumn air. </p><p>	He recognizes this breeze, by its temperament and its attitude, and he lets himself be whisked away by it until they’re a ways away from the restaurant’s view. There, a fully human Lee Minho throws himself at Chan with eyes filled with desperation. </p><p>	“He’s gone!” Minho cries. Chan grips his arms to steady his friend. </p><p>	“Who’s gone? What happened?”</p><p>	“Jisung! He left, and— the inspectors must have narrowed in on us— they took him! He’s gone!” Minho shakes his head frantically, scrubbing at tears. Such franticness at the expense of a human is something Chan has never seen in the wind spirit. </p><p>	“Okay, then— well, it’s okay— calm down— it’ll be alright—”</p><p>	“No it won’t!” Minho exclaims. “This is all my fault, I should never have gone near him in the first place—”</p><p>	“No, no, it’s alright, you didn’t mean any harm—” Chan pulls him closer to stroke his hair. “It’s okay. We’ll help him, I promise.”</p><p>	“Chris?” Chan turns to see Felix standing behind them. Sees his eyes glance over to where Chan is standing, holding another man in his arms.</p><p>	“Uh,” Chan says. </p><p>	Minho acts faster, shoving Chan away with more force than necessary. “Hi, Felix,” he says.</p><p>	Felix squints at this stranger. “Um, hi?”</p><p>	“This is Minho,” Chan explains. “He’s a spirit too.”</p><p>	“Oh.” Felix relaxes. He tugs his scarf tighter around his neck. “That’s nice.” </p><p>	“I’m a friend of Jisung’s,” Minho explains.</p><p>	“Oh!” Felix’s face splits into a smile. Chan smiles back reflexively. “How is Jisung?”</p><p>	“He’s great!” Chan says quickly, at the same time Minho says, “Kidnapped.”</p><p>	Felix frowns. “Huh?” His eyes flick between the two. “Is everything alright?” </p><p>	“No,” Minho blurts. “I got your friend kidnapped. It’s all my fault.” He looks down at the ground. “But I’m gonna get him back.” He meets Felix’s gaze sharply. “I promise.”</p><p>	“Um.” Felix turns to Chan. “What’s going on?”</p><p>	“Spirit inspectors,” Chan tries to explain quickly. “Spirits aren’t allowed to have contact with humans, so—”</p><p>	“You’re not?” Felix blinks.</p><p>	“Yes, we’ve been over this!” Chan fights to stay patient. “That’s why I said you couldn’t see me any more—”</p><p>	“You weren’t very good at that,” Felix observes, crossing his arms. Chan’s shoulders slump.</p><p>	“Well, no, obviously not.”</p><p>	Felix turns to Minho. The wind spirit gulps. “So what’s his deal?”</p><p>	Chan can tell Minho is having difficulty processing the strange contrast of Felix’s sweet, innocent features and his inhumanly deep voice. “Well— I, uh—”</p><p>	“We’re gonna break Jisung out of the spirit headquarters,” Chan says suddenly. Felix’s eyebrows shoot skyward. Minho sputters some more.</p><p>	“We can do that?” A ray of hope breaks through the turmoil of Minho’s expression. </p><p>	“We’re going to.” Chan closes his eyes, counts his breaths. “Okay.” He turns to Felix. “Your friend.”</p><p>	Felix blinks. “My… friend?” 	</p><p>	“The really muscular one. The really angry one. You know, the one—”</p><p>	“Oh, Changbin-hyung!” Felix brightens. “He’s not really an angry guy, though—”</p><p>	“Doesn’t matter. Get a hold of him.” Chan paces back and forth. “Since the spirit inspectors have taken up residence at the ocean headquarters right now, that’s likely where they’ve taken him.”</p><p>	“Likely?” Felix cries. “You mean you don’t actually know where he is?”</p><p>	“How the hell would we know that?” Minho snaps. </p><p>	“Be quiet!” Chan pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. Concentrating.” The other two fall silent. “Okay. Tell him to meet us at the beach. Can you bring him?” He turns to Felix.</p><p>	“Um, yeah, sure,” Felix says, shifting uncertainly. “He’s friends with Jisung, so….”</p><p>	“Great.” Chan nods. “The three of us should—”</p><p>	“Three?” Felix puts his hands on his hips. “What do you mean, three?”</p><p>	“Me, Minho, and Changbin,” Chan explains.</p><p>	“Uh huh.” Felix raises an eyebrow. “And what about me?”</p><p>	“It’s dangerous,” Chan says nervously. “So—”</p><p>	“Oh, like I give a shit. It’s dangerous that my best friend got kidnapped. End of story. I’m coming.”</p><p>	Chan knows better than to argue with him. “Okay.” He turns to Minho. “What time is it?”</p><p>	Minho checks the time. “Almost 5:30pm.” </p><p>	Chan takes a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s meet at 6. Does that work?” He turns to Felix. The human hesitates, then nods furiously. </p><p>	“Okay.” Chan turns to Minho. “You’ll get there first, so just wait for us.” He waits for Minho’s confirmation. He doesn’t trust the wind spirit to not go barrelling in on the inspectors on his own.</p><p>	“Okay. It’s settled. 6pm.” Chan turns to look over the side of the hill, down at the ocean below. “We’ll break him out.”</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	“Please state your full name.”</p><p>	“Han… Jisung.”</p><p>	“Date of birth.” </p><p>	“September 14, 2000.”</p><p>	“Hmm.” </p><p>	I can barely make out the two men in front of me under the blinding lights. I’m in some sort of interview— no, interrogation room. There’s a big white table in front of me, reflecting the glaring bright lights above. My wrists are shackled to the table by white leather braces. Two white plastic chairs house the two men facing me. </p><p>	“Can you please state what you were doing with a wind spirit?” One of the inspectors asks. </p><p>	“Um… he’s my roommate,” I say. They both chuckle. I don’t understand why it’s funny.</p><p>	“How long have you been in contact with this spirit?”</p><p>	“Two months… ish,” I offer.</p><p>	“Ish,” one of them repeats. “I don’t understand its human speech.”</p><p>	“Don’t bother,” the other sniffs. “There’s no point.” He leans forward. “My name is Chanhee. I’d like you to cooperate with us, otherwise it might be painful for you.” He smiles a sickeningly sweet smile. “Understand?”</p><p>	I nod quickly, because I don’t like the sound of <i> painful. </i> I am quite prepared to give up all the information on Minho I have.</p><p>	“Good.” The inspectors stand. The braces around my wrists release, and I am free. The unnamed one gives me a wolfish grin. “Please come with us.”</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	Minho watches Felix as he picks his way down to the beach. He brought his friend Changbin— Minho recognizes him— but that isn’t all. There are three other people with him.</p><p>	Minho lifts his face to sniff the air. Human, but also— there’s something else. Someone is not what they seem to be.</p><p>	“Who are they?” Minho demands as he stalks forward. Chan isn’t here yet, so he’s left to deal with the kids on his own. </p><p>	“Sorry, I couldn’t—”</p><p>	“I’m Jisung’s best friend!” Oh, no. No no no. What is <i> he </i> doing here? “So of course I— oh, shit.” And now he’s spotted Minho. “Um.”</p><p>	Hyunjin pauses. He glances between Minho and Felix. “You two know each other?”</p><p>	Felix frowns. <i> “You two </i> know each other?”</p><p>	“Well, this is awkward.” One of the other humans yawns. “But I can’t say I really care.”</p><p>	“Who’s that?” Minho points to the two people behind Felix, Changbin, and Hyunjin, where he’s narrowed down the scent of <i> other, not human, </i> wafting towards him easily on the wind.</p><p>	“That’s Seungmin,” Felix explains. “We went to high school together. All of us did. Well, Innie’s still in school. But he wanted to come along.”</p><p>	“Hyunjin-hyung knows a wind spirit,” the last boy says softly. Minho narrows in on him. Standing apart from the others, just out of range of suspicion. Minho hones in on his scent. He grins.</p><p>	“So,” Minho says lazily, prowling in front of the crowd of kids before him. “Want to explain what an earth spirit is doing with the lot of you?”</p><p>	“Huh?” Changbin turns to face the others. “What? Who?”</p><p>	“Him.” Minho points at the youngest of the boys. “Earth spirit.”</p><p>	The boy grins. He’s familiar, Minho realizes now. He’d seen him at the inspection. The inspectors had called him out, but he’d managed to save his own ass.</p><p>	“What are you talking about?” Felix shakes his head. “Jeongin’s just as human as the rest of us.”</p><p>	“He sure is not.” Minho stalks forward. “Amazing he’s been able to pass as a high schooler, though. But I guess it’s easier for you earthly types, since you all have your animal forms. What’s yours?” He crouches down and looks back up at Jeongin. “What do you really look like?”</p><p>	Jeongin’s form shrinks, and suddenly, staring back at Minho is a small fennec fox. A clamor of surprised yelps rises up from his friends around them. Jeongin shifts back into his human form. Minho stands again. </p><p>	“What the hell?” Seungmin’s eyes are blown wide. “How have you been hiding something like that?”</p><p>	Jeongin shrugs bashfully.</p><p>	“It’s dangerous to tell people about our true identities.” Minho stares at Hyunjin as he speaks. “It puts them in danger as well as yourself. That’s why it’s so hard for us to let humans into our lives.” </p><p>	Hyunjin glances away. The others crowd around Jeongin.</p><p>	“That’s so cool—” </p><p>	“It’s alright that you didn’t tell us, we understand—” </p><p>	“Wait.” The others turn to look at Seungmin. Minho glances towards the horizon. The sun dipping lower. Chan should be here soon. “Does that mean you don’t age?” </p><p>	Jeongin meets Minho’s gaze. “Yeah. Unless we revoke our spirit form.”</p><p>	“What does that mean?” The others ask. </p><p>	“It means you live out your life as your true form,” Minho explains. “Earth spirits as animals, wind spirits as the breeze, ocean spirits as a body of water, flame spirits as— well, a spark, I guess. Until you fade from existence. So in a way, you become mortal.”</p><p>	“What if you’re a deer and someone shoots you?” Felix asks.</p><p>	“Um,” says Jeongin. “You die, I guess.”</p><p>	“Oh, shit.” The humans mutter amongst themselves. “This is crazy…”</p><p>	Minho feels Hyunjin’s eyes on him. He turns away. The human approaches him anyway. “How do you know Jisung?” Hyunjin asks. </p><p>	“We—”</p><p>	“He said you go to college together.” Hyunjin narrows his eyes. Minho ignores the flip-flop his stomach does at being so close to him. “You’re a wind spirit. You’re not human. You don’t <i> go to college.” </i></p><p>	Minho glances away. “Well, after what you made me think about humans, I guess I wanted to find out if they weren’t all so bad.” </p><p>	Hyunjin pauses. “I’m sorry.” He looks down. “I never meant to make you feel that way, but— I should’ve realized you don’t understand how humans work.” </p><p>	Minho blinks. An apology. He never thought about what he’d do when faced with one.</p><p>	“Okay,” he says stiffly. His priority right now is Jisung. He’ll deal with Hyunjin later. </p><p>	The ocean swirls behind them, and several of the humans yelp as Chan emerges from the ocean. </p><p>	“You’re here,” Minho observes. “Did you find the entrance?”</p><p>	“Yeah,” Chan says. “We’re going in from the South. The closest one to here.” He turns to the others. “This is a lot more than I thought.”</p><p>	“Well, Felix brought friends.”</p><p>	“Why is he talking to himself?” Seungmin hisses to Felix. </p><p>	“You can’t all see him,” Jeongin says. “Ocean spirits are a bit pretentious like that.”</p><p>	Chan bristles. “Hey, that’s not my fault— how can you see me, anyway?”</p><p>	“Earth spirit,” Minho explains. </p><p>	“What— how did I not realize?”</p><p>	Minho shrugs. “The wind tells all.”</p><p>	Chan informs Minho of the plan, and he relays it to the others. “Chan and I will work together to form a bubble so everyone can make it down to the ocean headquarters safely.”</p><p>	“We’re trusting a guy we can’t even see?” Hyunjin interrupts. Felix narrows his eyes.</p><p>	“That’s my boyfriend, dude.” </p><p>	“Oh.” Hyunjin scratches his head. “Sorry.”</p><p>	Minho ignores the interruption. “Once we’re down there, Chan will get us into the Southern entrance. We’ll take care of any guards on the way— that’s what Changbin’s for—”	</p><p>	“Huh?” Changbin raises his eyebrows. “You’re using me as a battering ram?”</p><p>	“Yes, thank you for putting it so nicely.” Minho claps politely. “Once we find the interrogation room, we’ll be faced with the inspectors. I’m not sure if we can beat them up, so we may have to reason with them.” Minho sighs. “But either way, we’ll get him out.”</p><p>	Over just the past afternoon, Minho has done a lot of thinking. To reason with the <i> inspectors, </i> he better have some pretty solid points. And he thinks he’s got some.</p><p>	“Any questions?” Everyone raises their hands. “Alright, let’s go!”</p><p>	He crouches beside Chan where the waves lap at the beach. Chan pushes the water aside, and Minho whips up an air bubble to cover them as they descend below the surface. It’s a lot of work, even with the two of them working together— Minho keeping the bubble in place, Chan moving them down deep into the ocean.</p><p>	The humans cluster together nervously, staring out at the ocean as they pass schools of curious fish and one overly-curious shark. Enjoy it while you can, Minho thinks dryly.</p><p>	Chan manages to get them inside the South entrance, and Minho drops the bubble once they’re all inside air. </p><p>	The hallway is empty. Minho lets out a sigh of relief. Maybe this will be easy. </p><p>	The seven of them sneak through the halls, following Chan’s lead. Safely avoiding any confrontation, they arrive at a wide set of white doors.</p><p>	“This has got to be it,” Chan says. “Alright. Let’s go.” He throws the doors open, and they all crowd in. </p><p>	Big mistake.</p><p>	A large crowd of ocean spirit guards looks up at them. All tall, muscular, and armed. Minho gulps. </p><p>	“Can you see <i> them?” </i> Felix squeaks.</p><p>	“Sure can,” Seungmin chokes.</p><p>	The nearest guard grabs for her spear, and Chan lunges forward before any others can make a move. While he’s disarming one, Minho shifts into his wind form and blasts three of them back. Their heads smack against the farthest wall, and they sink to the ground. Jeongin pulls a section of the floor up with his earth spirit powers and topples several more.</p><p>	Changbin tousles with another guard, grabbing their spear and pinning them against the wall. “You go ahead!” He calls over his shoulder. Jeongin shifts beside him and joins in the fray. “We’ll keep them occupied here.”</p><p>	Minho nods, and the five others rush ahead. The doors at the end of the corridor slide open, and Minho crashes into Chan’s back as he skids to a halt. </p><p>	There are dozens of identical doors in this hallway. Any could have Jisung behind them.</p><p>	“Let’s try 'em all!” He pushes Chan aside and lunges for the first door. Locked. He blasts it open. Empty.</p><p>	They make their way down the hall, each room as empty as the last. </p><p>	Hyunjin pauses outside one door. He presses his ear against it. </p><p>	“What?” Minho snaps. </p><p>	“I think I can hear something—”</p><p>	“Doubt it,” Minho sniffs. “Let me in.” He pushes Hyunjin aside and takes his place. Sure enough, soft voices drift out from the other side. “We found him!” He wrenches the door open excitedly.</p><p>	The two inspectors stand on the other side. They exchange a knowing glance when they see Minho standing in the doorway.</p><p>	“Figures,” Changmin says. “Of course you’d be the one to come running.”</p><p>	Chan appears behind him. “Jisung!” </p><p>	Slumped in a chair behind the inspectors is Jisung. He’s strapped down to the white armchair, but there’s no sign of a struggle or violence anywhere. He’s probably just unconscious, but how he may have gotten that way makes Minho’s stomach twist.</p><p>	“Are you here to take him back?” Chanhee asks.</p><p>	“If you don’t let him go, we’ll be taking him,” Chan says. </p><p>	“We were right to keep an eye on <i> you,” </i> Changmin says, pointing to Minho. “But we should’ve been watching you too, Bang Chan.” Chan narrows his eyes.</p><p>	“Jisung hasn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t even know I was a spirit until today anyway. You can’t keep him here—”</p><p>	“Lee Minho, this is the <i> second </i> human you’ve told about your identity.” Changmin shakes his head. “Really, not just once but twice. Do you ever learn your lesson?”</p><p>	This is it. This is where he is stripped of his spirit status and banished to live as nothing more than a gust of wind until he’s blown apart by a storm or something and ceases to exist.</p><p>	“Minho… hyung?” </p><p>	All heads whip towards the voice. Jisung lifts his head slowly from where he’s slumped in the chair. </p><p>	“Jisung!” Minho lurches forward, and the inspectors shove him back. </p><p>	“Not so fast.” Their eyes wander over the hodge-podge group of kids before them. “This is quite the unprofessional rescue attempt.”</p><p>	“Hey,” Seungmin says weakly. “We’re doing our best.”</p><p>	“How curious,” Chanhee observes. “Humans and spirits working together.”</p><p>	“Yes!” Chan jumps forward. “Because we’re friends!”</p><p>	“Yeah! What he said,” Hyunjin added.</p><p>	Chan turns. “Wait— can you all see me now?”</p><p>	“Oh.” Seungmin blinks. “That’s true, you weren’t here before...”</p><p>	“We all worked together because he’s our <i> friend,” </i> Minho says, stepping forward to stand beside Chan. “And we never would have been if we hadn’t broken your stupid rules. Chan and Felix love each other or something because they broke the rules. Not everything that comes out of humans and spirits mixing…” Suddenly, he thinks of Hyunjin. “Is bad.”</p><p>	“Interesting,” the inspectors say. “That’s the opposite of what you said two years ago when we suspected you of mingling with humans.”</p><p>	“Well, I guess I’ve learned my lesson,” Minho snaps. “But I don’t regret anything. So go ahead, strip me of being a spirit. You can’t take away everything I have.” He clenches his fists. “Because even if I’m dead, I’ll still have more friends than you.”</p><p>	“Oh, shit!” Someone whispers behind him in awe. </p><p>	The inspectors turn to each other.</p><p>	“He’s quite good,” Chanhee says.</p><p>	“Yes, we made a good choice.” Changmin moves to where Jisung sits. </p><p>	“Huh?” Minho watches as the inspectors unstrap Jisung. “What are you talking about?”</p><p>	“Well, despite our rules, we don’t hate all humans. We were more than glad to give you the chance to explore human life, since you so seriously misunderstood it two years ago. But we did need to ask Jisung some questions.” He throws Jisung towards the spirits. Minho catches him quickly. “You can have him now, though.”</p><p>	“But—” Minho glances between them. “What are you going to do to me?”</p><p>	“You?” Chanhee frowns. “Well, you found good humans, so I don’t see any reason to keep you away from them.” He puts his hands on his hips. “But if we find you with someone who doesn’t hold our best interests at heart….”</p><p>	“Right.” But that doesn’t make sense— hadn’t that happened, two years ago? They hadn’t done anything then….</p><p>	Unless… Minho turns to where Hyunjin is helping Jisung out into the hallway. Maybe he really had his best interests at heart the whole time. </p><p>	Back on the surface, Minho’s head spins. So much doesn’t make sense. They really were just let go like that. So… the inspectors would only have banished them if they’d found the humans to be dangerous? Which means they’re all okay?</p><p>	Chan places a hand on his shoulder. Minho turns to look at him. 	</p><p>	“You should go check on them.” Minho follows his gaze. Hyunjin has Jisung’s arm slung around his shoulder, and they both collapse to the beach in a fit of laughter. It makes Minho’s heart pang. </p><p>	“I shouldn’t—”</p><p>	“Yes.” Chan shoves him forward. “You should.”</p><p>	Minho isn’t sure what Chan expects him to do. He turns to face them as Hyunjin helps Jisung to his feet. Then, while everyone else watches, he flings his arms around Jisung’s neck and kisses him.</p><p>	Minho isn’t sure why the first thing he feels is pain. A brutal mixture of disappointment, guilt, sadness, regret. He turns away. </p><p>	Changbin, Seungmin, and Jeongin share snorts and giggles between themselves. Chan and Felix are wrapped up in each other all lovey-dovey. Minho keeps his eyes fixed on the horizon until a hand on his shoulder is turning him around.</p><p>	Hyunjin beams at him, eyes shining with hope and a little anxiousness too. “Thank you,” he says, although Minho isn’t quite sure what he’s done that’s deserved thanking. Then Hyunjin throws himself forward to kiss Minho as well.</p><p>	Um. Well. Uh. That’s… certainly something. </p><p>	Minho can’t remember the last time his brain short circuited this much. What is thinking, again?</p><p>	His frozen state is broken by Jisung slumping to the ground behind them.</p><p>	“Oh,” Chan says. “He’s probably super worn out. Let’s get him back home, okay?”</p><p>	Minho meets Hyunjin’s eyes. Whatever’s between them, they’ll work it out later. Jisung comes first.</p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	When I open my eyes, I’m back in my dorm. Hushed voices immediately quiet nearby. </p><p>	I’m swaddled in my bed, weighed down by layers of blankets and boxed in by far too many pillows. I can barely turn my head to see who’s in my room with me.</p><p>	Minho and Hyunjin have their heads bent close together on Minho’s bed. They’re smiling— a far cry from the last time I saw them together— and Minho says something that makes Hyunjin’s shoulders silently shake with laughter.</p><p>	I scrunch my eyes closed, trying to remember what happened before this. I can just barely recall the interrogation, the breakout, the bubble taking us back to the surface. The beach, and Hyunjin’s arms around me, and his lips—</p><p>	My face heats up as I blink my eyes open again. This time, there are two faces swimming above it. </p><p>	“How are you feeling?” Hyunjin asks, voice soft. He tucks a stray strand of golden hair behind his ear and sits down beside me. Minho nudges him aside and crams in next to me as well.</p><p>	“Can you sit up?” The wind spirit asks. That’s right. He’s not human. He’s just like Chris. And, apparently, Jeongin. There was a lot I’d have to ask the high schooler once I was out of here.</p><p>	<i> Once we figure everything out. </i> My heart pangs. What do I do now? How much have they already talked through?</p><p>	“So…” Both boys lurch towards me as I speak. I grip the edge of my nightstand and haul myself up. Minho hands me a glass of water. “What happens now?” </p><p>	They exchange confused glances. </p><p>	“With us,” I clarify.</p><p>	“Oh,” Hyunjin glances at Minho sheepishly. “Well, we kind of already worked things out.”</p><p>	“It’s okay if you don’t forgive me,” Minho says. “I’ll understand.”</p><p>	“I mean—” Now that he’s risked his life breaking me out of the ocean spirit headquarters, I’d feel a little guilty cutting him off. “You did a lot of stalking to end up with me here.”</p><p>	Minho tips his head. “Stalking?”</p><p>	Oh. So it’s like that.</p><p>	“You know, all the information on me you had to find out?” I shake my head. “Not cool.”</p><p>	“Oh, my research!” Minho smiles. “Well, I wanted to learn about you.” His smile dies when he sees my expression. “Is that… not okay?”</p><p>	I shake my head again. “No, it’s not. You could have asked me all that stuff.”</p><p>	“Well, yeah, but this was quicker.” Minho glances at Hyunjin as the younger boy places a hand on his arm.</p><p>	“Typically, it’s considered rude to look into someone’s personal life without their permission. It’s considered a breach of trust.”</p><p>	“Ah,” Minho blinks. “I see.” He places his hand on his chin as he frowns in concentration. “So me looking into your life to compile that binder was a breach of trust? Even though I didn’t know you?”</p><p>	“Yeah.” Somehow, it makes me feel a bit better that he just didn’t understand what he was doing. It makes it a lot easier than him knowingly doing something bad. “Not to mention, you’re not even really a college student. You just hacked your way in here. So... it makes me feel really bad.”</p><p>	“Oh.” Minho pouts. It stirs up a squirming feeling in my gut. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have done that if I’d known it would make you uncomfortable.”</p><p>	“Well… I get it,” I say, and I actually do. “You wanted to see if there was a possibility you’d been wrong about humans. So you picked me, for whatever reason, I guess—” <i> I thought you were really cute. </i> “And you needed to find out where I’d be.” I sigh. “So it’s still pretty weird, but I forgive you.”</p><p>	“Really?” Minho perks up excitedly. </p><p>	“Yeah. But, all that shit you made up about Hyunjin—”</p><p>	“That’s fine.” Hyunjin waves a hand. “Water under the bridge. We’ve cleared it up.” Minho squeezes his hand.</p><p>	“I never meant to do something wrong,” Minho says earnestly. “I’m just bad at understanding how humans work. I’m still figuring out the rules and everything.” And something about the way he says that makes my heart pang in a different sense. <i> Do something wrong. </i></p><p>	“Listen,” I say, leaning forward. He stares back intently. “Lemme tell you something, okay?” He leans in. “There is a secret to life that nobody will tell you, because nobody knows. There’s no rules to follow. Nobody knows what the hell they’re doing. So who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong?”</p><p>	“Oh,” Minho says softly. “Well… okay.”</p><p>	I’m not sure where it came from, but it felt like the right thing to say. </p><p>	“Yeah.” I swallow. Try not to focus on the fact that Hyunjin still has his hand on top of Minho’s. “So… I’m happy for you two then, I guess.”</p><p>	They exchange a confused glance. “Huh? What do you mean?” Minho frowns.</p><p>	“Well, doesn’t this mean you’re back together or something?” I gesture to their clasped hands and fold my arms over my chest. </p><p>	They exchange another bewildered glance before bursting into laughter.	</p><p>	“What?” I snap, never one to be fond of others laughing at my expense. “What’s so funny?” It really hurts, you know, seeing the friend you’re in love with and your recent crush being happy together. </p><p>	“Dude— we went through all that to get you back, and you think we’re just gonna go off without you now?” Hyunjin rubs at his eyes before he can laugh tears. “The reason we even wanted to talk things out is because we <i> both like you.” </i></p><p>	“Huh?” I blink stupidly at Hyunjin. “You like me?”</p><p>	“For almost a year, yeah.” Hyunin jerks his chin at Minho. “This dumb-dumb does too.”</p><p>	“Yah.” Minho narrows his eyes and grabs a handful of long blonde hair. “Watch it.”</p><p>	“Ow— ow— I’m sorry—”</p><p>	“How long?”</p><p>	“20 minutes at 180 degrees!” Hyunjin chokes. I blink.</p><p>	“What?”</p><p>	“In the air fryer!”</p><p>	I shake my head. Must be some inside joke. “Yeah. Okay. Sure.” I tuck my knees up to my chin. Minho releases Hyunjin and they both turn to look at me. “So… what <i> really </i> happens now?”</p><p>	“Well…” Minho glances at Hyunjin, who nods. “If you’d like to, then… we’d like to be together.”</p><p>	“We?” I echo. Hyunjin nods. “You mean… all three of us?”</p><p>	“Yeah.” Hyunjin takes my hand and squeezes. Minho grasps my other and intertwines our fingers.</p><p>	“Oh.” Of all the things happening my first year in college, getting two super hot boyfriends was not something I’d envisioned. “Well, fuck yeah, I won’t say no to that.”</p><p>	They both laugh and lean forward to pull me into their arms. I wrap one arm around Hyunjin, and one around Minho, and hold on tight enough to outlast any storm that might come our way. </p><p> </p><p>☁                    ☁                   ☁</p><p> </p><p>	“Since when is this a thing?” Felix asks as he pushes the shopping cart. Chris runs ahead— or Chan, as he’s decided he’ll be called by everyone, for continuity’s sake— and thoroughly examines the cookie aisle.</p><p>	“Since Hyunjin decided it’d be easiest to see all his friends in one place. And I have to agree, I like the idea.”</p><p>	“So, is this, like a weekly thing, or monthly, or—”</p><p>	“Every Friday!” Chan holds a box of Oreos in one hand and chocolate chip cookies in the other. “Which type?”</p><p>	“Both.” </p><p>	He adds them to the cart alongside Felix’s painting supplies. He’s been working on a piece featuring all eight of them recently. Drawing people is hard, but for their friend group, he wants to etch them all in his art permanently.</p><p>	So every Friday, the eight of them meet on the beach for a picnic; to catch up, chat about everything and nothing and everything in between, and simply enjoy their lives together. Jeongin’s still in high school even though he doesn’t age. He says he likes to look down on others with knowledge they don’t have. It makes everyone uncomfortable. In other news, apparently Minho got a job recently to help Hyunjin raise money for college. The little things everyone’s accomplished brings smiles to the faces of their friends. </p><p>	This week, Chan and Felix are in charge of the dessert. Hyunminsung— as they’ve been playfully shortened to, because the three boyfriends are rarely separated— are bringing entrees. Changbin said he’d bring plates, because he didn’t want to bother with anything else, and the maknaes said they’d break into the smoothie shop Seungmin works at to steal the newest imports. It sounds a lot fancier than what they’ll probably end up with.</p><p>	The sun is almost setting by the time everyone arrives at their spot. They watch the waves lap the shore while they laugh and tease and play with each other. Jisung has his head resting on Minho’s shoulder while Hyunjin sprawls in his lap. Felix reclines on Chan’s chest and Jeongin and Seungmin bury Changbin up to his neck in sand. </p><p>	It’s fun. It’s content. It’s peaceful. </p><p>	Despite the craziness that’s occurred between the summer before senior year and the first year of college, they’ve weathered it together. And who knows how long they’ll get to spend their time together, with three of them being immortal.</p><p>	It’s unpredictable, and it’s unknown. But that’s just how the future is. </p><p>There’s no guidebook, no set of rules to follow. Nothing more right or wrong than however you want to spend your life. </p><p>So if Jisung wants to have two boyfriends, one of whom isn’t human, then who’s to say he can’t? </p><p>If Felix wants to stay in Busan to be close to Chan, even if he’s limiting his possibilities, because it’s where he’s happiest, then who’s going to stop him?</p><p>Nobody. Because even when the sky isn’t clear and the future’s uncertain, even if there’s a powerful storm brewing on the horizon, they’ll weather it together. The eight of them, together. Like it’s always been meant to be.</p><p>Like it’s fate.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you so much for reading! i've still got plenty planned for the future.</p><p>right now my upcoming fic plans are:<br/>tbz one shot (angsty, sad)<br/>skz multi chaptered work (anime au but i wont tell you which; fantasy genre)<br/>bnha fic that i may or may not do, probably under a different alias cause its anime.</p><p>let me know if/which ones you're excited for, and maybe some ideas as well!</p><p>Thank you for reading, sunflowers!<br/>~Li</p></blockquote></div></div>
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